Pale Dagger
by DreamColors
Summary: Reina didn't want to return to the Red Clan. However, though oblivious to it, she needed it. After five years of deployment and four years without the warm Aura, she'd gone cold. Flame is returning to her heart, bit by bit and slowly warming her body. The pale, chilled dagger was slowly bringing a warmer color back to the blade that was stained with blood. T for language & violence
1. Chilled

**Chapter One: **

**Chilled**

Heart racing, thumping against her chest like a snare drum and completely in a different, faster pace than her sneakers that crashed down on the rain covered cement below her. Pale, snow-like hair clung to her face and neck; she was completely soaked in rain. But the cold didn't stop her as she ran, nor did her increasing speed stop the cedar colored canine from leaving her side. Thunder cracked above as she came upon a bend on the street, and managed to make a sharp turn, slightly sliding off her feet, as a couple of bullets whizzed past her. Ruby tinted eyes were sharp and determined as she ran down another block and then turned into an alley way. _Damn, if this keeps up…_

She wasn't exactly looking forward to finding out what would happen if they caught her. Though, the many scars, bruises, cuts, burn marks, and all the such on her body gave her a couple of ideas. The pale haired girl stopped up on a dead-end and 'tch'ed'. "Well, I'm fucked," She grunted, staring at the fence that got in her way. More than likely if she were to attempt to climb up it, her pursuers were bound to catch up to her a drag her down before she could get over. A sharp bark caught her attention and ruby pupils looked down and over to the brown, wolf-like mutt at her side who seemed to be alerting the girl of another route. It led to a warehouse. She looked at the building, it was old and busted up, probably a good hiding space. "You better not get me killed, Tobi," She sneered at the canine who merely barked right back at her before the two began after the building.

Upon nearing the building, she took yet another sharp turn and ran into the warehouse, only to be greeted by two unfamiliar faces. Her eyes narrowed and her jaw clenched as her hands balled up into fists. There was a rather short red-brown haired boy who looked slightly younger than herself with baggy clothes, he held a bat in his hand and had a skateboard under one of his feet. The other was a…pudgy looking fellow, blond hair and wearing some kind of white and grey jumpsuit. Both of them seemed to be engaged in a conversation until she arrived, the two looked at her with concern. They weren't the people who were chasing her. Thank god.

"There! Get her!" But _they_ were. Ruby eyes looked past the two strangers and to the other entrance of the warehouse where a group of men wearing suits ran into the worn down building. The girl looked back behind her and she saw several men running towards her end of the building. Ignoring the strangers she thrust her hand out.

"Go!" She commanded and with her movements the canine, Tobi, at her side let out a bark that turned into a snarl as it ran in zigzags between the strangers at the others. Tobi leapt up at the man who raised a gun and snapped his powerful jaws in the man's arm. Crying out the lackey flung Tobi off of his arm, who quickly recoiled and leapt at the man once more, this time his jaws clenched around his throat. The man gurgled and cried out his last breath as blood flew in the air.

Meanwhile, the girl dung her hand into the pocket of her hoodie-like shirt and pulled out small, handle-less switch blades, good for throwing. She turned to face the men that chased her and a cocky grin found its way onto her lips. Three blades flung from her hand as she threw them at the men, one of which was an accurate throw, hitting a brown haired man straight in his main artery in his neck, the man gurgled before falling down with a few last dying heaves. Another managed to reach a man's leg and the other fell short. She slid her body down and outstretched her leg, sweeping the already injured man off his feet and she threw other knife at his chest before picking herself up on her hands and swinging her leg to hit a man across the jaw. The girl flipped back to her feet, but wasn't kick enough to dodge a bullet that didn't just graze her shoulder.

"Ah!" She cried out and grabbed her forearm, stumbling back a little from the pain. Blood streamed out of the wound and through her red and black stripped hoodie shirt. The girl glared at the familiar man in front of her who smiled at his accuracy. If you could call it accuracy. A cry of a wounded animal diverted her attention to Tobi, and from the corner of her eyes she could see the cedar mutt being flung across the room and into a few boxes. "No!" The girl was about to charge after the man who would ever dare to hurt her dog when a strong fist rammed right into her left ribcage. She heard a crack of a few ribs and the pale haired girl let out a gasp as all the air in her body escaped from her lips. The girl tried to hold on to whatever strain she had on herself before falling over with a groan and going unconscious.

The man who managed to knock her out caught the pale haired girl in his arms and smiled with a satisfied gleam in his dark eyes. "Dumb bitch didn't even see it comin', huh, Geki-san?" He raised his voice as he looked over to his partner that had curled around with the thrashing mutt, holding it in place and keeping his muzzle shut.

"Oi!" A voice called over and the men looked over at the red-brown haired punk that glared over at them. "What the fuck are you doing chasing down a woman?"

The man glowered and turned to face the two kids that were observing the little skirmish. "It's official business of the Yakuza, run along brats and go play somewhere else,"

The man named Geki barked a laugh and smiled daringly at the two men. "Yeah, short-fuse, go play with your boyfriend elsewhere," He cooed.

The kid grinned and clenched his firsts. "Bastards…I'll teach you a thing or two about calling me short, Yakuza scum," He dragged down the neck of his shirt to show the black, flame-like insignia on his shoulder and grinned wildly at the men.

"It's HOMRA!" The lead of the men hollered and threw the girl aside, taking out his gun. The snowy haired girl lay limp in a crippled position, her chest slightly rising and falling. Barely.

"Yata-san…" The other of the two muttered. "Look at what you've done now…What should we do?"

Yata Misaki lifted up his bat and glanced back at his partner. The two clearly knew the answer. A red, flame-like aura licked up Yata's arm and lit ablaze his bat and half of his body. "Burn them,"

* * *

The movement outside and the slow opening of his bar door caught the bartender's attention when he looked up from cleaning one of the martini glasses. All he saw was the usual HOMRA boys, Yata and Kamamoto, walking in with a woman in Kamamoto's arms. Great. He'd just cleaned the place and the two just decided to bring in a soaking wet stray. And that wasn't the only stray he was talking about. He looked to the side of Yata where a low baring mutt growled at the others. "Why do you have two strays with you?" The blond glared at the two, unhappy that both strays were messing up his recently cleaned bar with their rain, mud, and blood. For some reason he couldn't shake the thought that he knew the girl, though. Staring at her he just felt that he knew her.

"Gomen, gomen, Kusanagi-san. She was being chased by some Yakuza down at an old warehouse. She was lucky we were there, and she was already this beat up before we got to her. And the mutt was with her and won't leave her side," Kamamoto spoke up first, it seemed that Yata was too irritated to respond. So instead, the red-head let out a grunt and crossed his arms.

The blond sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, setting down the rag and martini glass on his vintage bar counter. "Ah…Set her down on the couch and go get Totsuka-san; he'll help her,"

Leaving his partner to do all the work, Yata shouldered his way past and walked to the bar, sitting on one of the stools and resting his head on his fist. "Baka, wonder what she was doing messing with the Yakuza…" The younger shook his head as his partner set the woman down on the couch and hurried upstairs. The dog barked at the bartender and lackey before leaping up on the couch and curling next to his master.

"Ah! No, no dirty mutts on the-" Kusanagi gave up and waved his hands at the canine as it shot a glare a glare at the veteran and a short, threatening huff. Yata glanced at the mutt and scoffed with a half-smile.

"Mutt's got you owned, Izumo-san,"

Kusanagi deadpanned and reached out a hand to his comrade, flicking him right between his eyes. "Shut it," He said bluntly and continued to clean his bar, glaring at the small puddles of blood, mud, and rain. He swore to himself to make Yata clean that later.

"Konichiwa, Yata-san, Kusanagi-san," A kind voice came from down the stairs and a dirty blond was stepping into the bar with a smile. The bartender waved at his old friend, though his expression was still blank as he motioned towards the unconscious woman on the couch. Light brown orbs found the pale haired woman and widened in recognition. "Izumo-san, don't you know who that is?"

Kusanagi raised an eyebrow at the weakest member of HOMRA. His confusion only spiked at who this person was. "Humor me,"

"You really don't remember, huh?" Totsuka crossed over to her and steadily sat down next to her, beginning to tend to her wounds, wary of the protective canine that lay curled up by the girl's legs. "She's Kushina Reina, remember?"

Kusanagi's eyes slowly widened and he paused from his cleaning, staring at the pale haired girl whose hair hung loosely in curls around her and slid off the couch side, barely touching the floor. Now he knew exactly why he felt he knew her. She was an old friend of theirs. Actually, she was part of the Red Clan before any of them. She was raised into it, as was her sister, Anna. The blond scratched his cheek and sighed. Mikoto was not going to be exactly happy that she was back…

* * *

"You're sure?" The Red King's expression was blank as Kusanagi explained the appearance of an old friend of theirs in the bar downstairs. The second in command nodded and sighed, scratching the back of his neck. He turned his head so he didn't have to meet the dull, yet irritated gaze of his amber eyed King.

"Yeah, she's back. Though, her aura is gone. Must've lost it during her deployment and she wasn't here for when you became King," Kusanagi continued with a nervous smile. He remembered how much those two were at each other's throats. Always fighting and arguing. It was hell. Though he didn't seem to get any interest from his King, the nearby little girl stared at Izumo with wide, ruby-tinted eyes. It had been a while since she'd seen her sister.

"Onee-chan is back?" Her voice was soft and rarely heard, but it was no surprise she'd chosen to speak now. Kusanagi merely nodded to her and she quickly walked across the room over to where Mikoto sat and tugged on his sleeve, obviously asking for him to come with her to see her long unseen sister. Naturally, the King stood up and ran his hand through his hair.

"Hn." He grunted merely and walked with the gothic Lolita dressed girl out of the room and down the hall, to the stairs. Kusanagi followed at his distance, chuckling a little because he had no idea what would go down once Rei would wake up. Probably something bad involving the King and the…_former_ Red Clansman. Ah, well, as long as they didn't do something too terrible to his building he would be perfectly fine.

"Onee-chan!" Anna gasped and ran from Mikoto's side over to the beaten and bruised woman on the couch. Tostuka did a good job at patching her up, but that didn't keep her from looking like shit with all those burns and bruises and scars. Her long hair was nearly dry and on the side of the couch was a large puddle of the water and muck from her hair. Kusanagi's jaw clenched.

"Hn…" Mikoto stared blankly at the former Clansman. "Wake her up,"

Totsuka looked up, alarmed at his King's words. "But, King, she's resting! You have no idea how many broken bones she has and how much blood she lost, I seriously think the Yakuza-"

"I said, wake her up," The Red King repeated, his deep voice cold as ice as he directed his gaze back to the dirty blond. Everything went silent in the bar with the few HOMRA members gathered. All their eyes were trained on the three superiors and the mysterious former Clansman. Slowly, both Anna and Tostuka began shaking Rei gently, the latter murmuring soft words for her to wake up to. Kusanagi saw the flicker of irritation in his King's eyes and just barely opened his mouth before the King walked over and swing his leg over, jabbing the heel of his shoe into the unconscious woman's chest.

Rei let out a gasp for air, ruby eyes wide open. Mikoto lifted his leg and it returned to his side as he stared at the pale haired girl with dulls eyes as she leaned over the couch, clutching her chest and coughing. Apparently she wasn't breathing. And it just had to be him to bring her back. Between coughs she glared up at the familiar crimson-haired King, hatred flaring in her eyes. "How'd you know she wasn't breathing?" Totsuka gasped, reaching towards the girl, worried that she'd hurt herself again whilst getting as much oxygen as she could or their lovely King had managed to break another three ribs.

"I didn't." Mikoto said blankly, causing Rei's glower to darken. Totsuka just laughed nervously, trying to wave away the tension between the King and former Clansman who glared at each other with an intent to kill.

"Fuck off," She spat and got up, snapping her fingers at the mutt whose ears perked before he leapt off the couch and walked with Rei as she made her way for the door, yanking her leather jacket off the arm of the couch. Rei was in no mood to deal with the bastard King. First thing was first; get her shit back. Then she'd deal with the HOMRA punks. Rei clutched her side where she could feel the broken and shattered ribs painfully.

"No 'thank you?'" Mikoto's deep voice made her jaw clench and she stopped at the door. Reina glanced back at the King and half smiled.

"Pfft!" She scoffed and continued walking out, running her fingers through her hair as she glanced over at her little sister who watched her with wide eyes. Rei was surprised any of them remembered her. It'd been five years since she'd seen everyone. How much has she missed? Ah, well. She didn't care anymore.

A firm hand grabbed hers and pulled her back, slamming her into the wall, causing her already ruptured body to ach. "Oh, mother-" She began, but the pale haired woman's voice was cut off by the bartender behind the counter.

"Oi! Easy with the bar!" His voice almost hit the same amount of tension and anger between Mikoto and Reina. She glared at him. He glared at her. They would forever hate each other. It was the best way to make a safety net for Rei. _Stop thinking, damn it!_

Ignoring Kusanagi, she reached into her pocket and pulled out…nothing. Ruby eyes widened. What the hell did they do with her knives? The glint of sun caught her eye and Rei looked over to see a pile of knives and daggers on the bar. The brunette from before sat next to it on a bar stool and looked over at her, a cocky grin on his face.

"Looking for these?" The skater said with a chuckle. Rei 'tch'ed and her jaw clenched. She soon found her gaze locked with the King who still held her arm with a painful grip. One word registered in her mind: Bastard.

Obviously Mikoto Suoh was expecting her thanks. Well, it couldn't hurt. Putting up her best, yet cheapest, innocent acting, Rei looked up at the King with innocent eyes and rested her fist on her jaw in a girly way. So unlike her usual personality. "Thank you, Suoh-kun, for saving my life, you're my hero!" The words tasted like poison coming out of her mouth. Especially with her voice raised an octave higher than usual.

"Don't push it," He grunted and let go of her arm, walking over to the bar stool and sitting down, eyeing the ceiling rather than the pale haired woman. He wasn't interested in her theatrics. Silence greeted the HOMRA gang in the bar and some didn't find it very welcoming. Totsuka cut through the silence by clapping his hands together and plastering a peace-making smile.

"Well then! Uh, Reina, you know myself, Kusanagi-san and King, um, that other there is Misaki Yata," He motioned over at the skater who nodded curtly at her. She returned the gesture. "And that's Rikio Kamamoto." The man in the white and grey clothing waved at her and she waved back.

"Yo," She greeted the two and walked over to the bar counter, picking up a few knives and stuffing them into her pockets, shoved some in her combat boots, slid some into the belt loops of her dark, torn and tattered skinny jeans and shove one in the back of her pants. The grabbed the last one which was the only one that had a correct holster that strapped to her thigh. The dagger was taken out of the strap and she spent her time adjusting and tying the holster to her thigh.

"Uhh…so aren't you incognito with the Yakuza?" Totsuka didn't dare let silence let tensions grow thicker in the bar.

"Was," Rei grunted and looked up at the man. "Bastards figured me out, I guess playing a whore and a hacker at the same time wasn't going to last long." The pale haired woman sighed and stood up, scratching the back of her neck. "It's just too good to be true; an educated whore…."

"You got it for five years, didn't you?" Kusanagi was the one to speak this time. Rei grinned and played with her damp hair, turning around in small steps to face the blond.

"Yeah, that's true," Ruby eyes found where her favorite dagger had gone, in the hands of a punk. Yata was toying with the knife and marveling at the engraved designs in the silver metal. Rei scoffed and took the dagger away. "Don't touch the goodies, kid," She said simply and slid the intricate knife in its well respected place.

"You're artillery sure did expand," Izumo grunted, crossing his arms after setting down the rag in his hand. Rei looked back up at him and grinned slyly. The last time they met she only had one dagger and that was old Hot Stuff.

"You guys know me and my sharp objects. By the way, that's Tobi, I picked him up while I was up on my deployment." She introduced the bark furred canine that was currently being adored by Anna who spent more time petting that mutt than saying hello to her sister. "Oi, Anna-chan, been a while, eh?" Her look-a-like sister glanced up and there was spark of happiness in her ruby eyes as she stood up and ran to her sister's side. Anna looked up at Rei with innocent eyes and the hem of her dress lightly touched her calf. "Has Mikoto been taking care of you?"

Anna looked at the Red King and then back at her sister and simply nodded. "Where are you trying to go?" The question caught Rei off guard and it took her a while to remember the physic abilities that she had at her disposal with her red marbles.

"I need to get some stuff at my old home," Rei's voice carried a new tone that only a couple of people were spoken to with and very few heard. It was of genuine kindness.

"Old home?" Tostuka's voice was concerned and confused. Though, it was very plain and simple.

"The home that was provided by the Yakuza. I need to get my stuff before the bastards rummage through it,"

"And you're going alone?" Rei's head turned sharply at the King and her eyes narrowed.

"I may not have the Red Aura anymore, but that doesn't mean I need your charity," She said bluntly. "I can kill the mother fuckers just finely on my own, thank you," Rei paid no attention to her foul language, even if her little eight-year-old sister was right next to her. Mikoto held a smug grin and he looked the other way, shrugging.

"I have to look after my Clansmen,"

Rei was immediately confused at Mikoto's words. She wasn't a Clansman. Nor did she intend to become of the title at all. Not under his say. Rubied eyes narrowed at the King and she took a step back, her fingers slowly curled around the hilt of her dagger, its smooth leather calling to her. She would start this. Rei wasn't afraid to challenge Suoh, she'd done it before. Just because he was King didn't make her intentions waver. "Don't treat me like a child," The pale haired woman snapped and spun on her heel, once again snapping her fingers to Tobi's attention who was, until then, enjoying the scraps of food it found behind the bar counter in the waste basket.

"I could get used to that mutt," Kusanagi said, seeing how the canine had cleaned up after himself. Reina scoffed and looked back with a haughty expression, she held herself in a proper manner. Another little act of hers.

"Oh, please, Mr. Izumo-kun, you're better off not getting too close. I wouldn't want to break your heart by taking away _'that mutt,'_" She said mockingly, giving a wink and whistling to Tobi once more to get his attention before continuing on her waltz out the door. Tobi let out a sharp bark and before Rei knew what the hell was going on, she felt a hand once again grasp her wrist. The pale haired woman didn't have the time to register the palm-prints that pricked the ends of her nerves before flames writhed out and licked up her forearm and over her shoulder, engulfing her entire body. Everything was all too familiar, the burning sensation turning into a part of her being, an overwhelming sense of power and strength.

Kushina Reina gave into what was once hers and the subconscious-ness that had been calling to her for days now.

_Damn him…_

* * *

**A/N:** Ah, yes. It's a _K Project_ Fanfiction! I felt the need to do this, after being inspired by the anime and manga itself and a couple other Fanfictions. If you like what you see here, I recommend _Burn it Down _by mikotohs and_ Red_ by WitchyCloudpine. These two fanfictions and some others were some inspiration for the story.

The way I plan to format this story is like…episodes… Sorta, I'll do maybe four or five chapters based on one situation and the next four or five will be on another. I'll be working my way into some parts of the manga; _Memory of Red_, and then soon the anime and post the first season. Hopefully by the time I get to after the events of the first season the second season will be out.

If you haven't read _Memory of Red_ or watched _K Project_, I seriously recommend it. Especially if you like _Durarara!_. It's a great anime series that will be continuing into a second season! I'm so happy about that!

Leave your thoughts in a review, drop a favorite if you want, and hell, if you really like the story, follow it! If you have any requests or questions, I'll be happy to acknowledge and respond to them. Other than that, I'm out!

Ciao!

-Bartrice


	2. Flicker

**Chapter Two**

**Flicker**

Everything was blurry. Too blurry for Rei's liking. Ruby eyes fluttered open, bringing back darkness and light with each bat of her eyelashes. Everything was cold. Too cold. Then again, Rei always got very cold very easily. Her head ached and throbbed and she didn't want to wane out of her dreamless sleep. She couldn't remember much and at first the 22 year-old thought she had a hangover, but then she remembered the Red Clansmen, including their King. It took a while for her mind to register the recent events and then she realized exactly what had happened. Rei's eyes opened wide, and despite the look of surprise on her hidden face, she said her words very calmly. "Damn bastard made me his Clansman…" After those words she held a scowl on her face and buried herself deeper into the black covers. Was someone smoking? Rei couldn't help but want to sneeze at the strong smell of cigarettes and the slight trace of alcohol. "Wait a minute…" Tense, she lifted her head from over the "covers."

"Gah!" Rei threw off the black jacket that belonged to no one other than Mikoto Suoh. She literally cringed as far back as the couch she once again had woken up on allowed, and Tobi, who never left her side, let out an alarmed bark and then, like he was reading her mind, turned his curled lips on the King that sat over at the bar counter, growling lowly. "Where is everyone?" She couldn't help but feel even colder after seeing how empty the bar was. Rei didn't like it. Being alone with him was like having to drink sulfuric acid like it was Champaign. Painful and slow. In other words; torture.

"I sent Yata and Kamamoto to get your stuff, Totsuka is up stairs and Kusanagi is in the kitchen." That was the most words she'd heard from him in five years. Rei cocked an eyebrow and looked at Mikoto suspiciously.

"And your lackeys know where my house is? How?" If her knives weren't once again confiscated, she would've threw a couple at him by know. The King looked like he'd just woken up himself. Figures.

"You really should put a lock on your phone,"

Rei deadpanned even more, her eyes like daggers at the King. "Why are you helping me? I didn't want this," She opened her clenched fist and let the Red Aura work its magic and a flame lit up in her palm, then closed her hands, smothering out the flame and then redirecting her gaze at Mikoto. He didn't seem to falter from his casual, bored self as he watched her. The way he looked as though he couldn't care less was irritating to the pale haired woman. The King shrugged and looked the other way, the idea of picking up his limp jacket from the floor below him hadn't crossed his mind and instead he lit the cigarette that he held loosely between his lips. Rei rolled her eyes and looked to her left, scoffing lightly at the sight of Tobi being held against his will by her snoozing sister. Anna looked peaceful with her arms wrapped tightly around Tobi's neck, completely in the harmless world of slumber despite the tension in the air. Reina's features softened and she almost grinned. Her sister had grown a lot in the past five years. Anna was no longer a three-year old.

Rei let her body fall back into the couch and she curled up like a cat, closing her eyes. "Kusanagi cooks?" The idea came to a surprise to her. Last she saw him he was nothing more than a waiter. Now he had a bar. And he cooked. Some much has changed.

Mikoto just simply glanced at her with a slight gleam of amusement in his eyes. That was a yes. Rei sighed and looked up at the ceiling, her gaze sharp, yet tender. Her mind back tracked to the past five years. So much has happened not only to her but her old friends as well. The pale woman noticed the goosebumps on her arms and curled deeper into the couch. Some things still remained; her tendency to get cold easily was one. She cast a glance at Mikoto who seemed to snooze off silently while sitting up. "And his habit of sleeping hasn't waned either." She grumbled and closed her eyes, listening for any sign of the other Clansmen's return.

"Ah! Rei-chan, you woke up!" An over enthusiastic voice called out and Rei opened one eye to peek over at the stair case where Tatara Totsuka stood, an old-timey recorder in his hand was angled at her. She blocked the camera lens from her face and scowled.

"Don't you have anything better to do?" Rei growled, glaring at the veteran from behind her hand.

Tatara beamed and titled his head away from the scope, a slight chuckle escaped his mouth. "Gomen." He said a little too happily and continued recording her. His way of saying nicely that he didn't and would continue to record his surroundings.

"You'll lose a hand or two if you don't watch yourself. Why do you have that old piece of junk anyway?" Rei grumbled, hiding herself in the corner of the couch. She couldn't help but feel completely vulnerable and naked without her blades. And the Clansman had to wonder, _Who had the guts to take off Hot Stuff? Ah, well._ She made a mental note to kill whomever neared her thigh while she was unconscious. If she'd ever find out. "Can't you just film things on your phone?"

Totsuka pouted and shut off the camera. "But, if I do that, then it wouldn't be a hobby!"

Rei once again glowered at the veteran. "I forgot that you like to take up stupid activities. I'm surprised you haven't started knitting, yet," She said bluntly and began to play with her hair, braiding a small strand and then unbraiding it. Part of her mind was focused on the fact that she was insane enough to stay here for another minute.

"Not yet!" Totsuka beamed and sat down on a bar stool next to his King. "Hey, do you still paint and all that?" Rei stopped her actions and stared at her still hands, concentrated on the past. How long had it been since she picked up a can of spray-paint? Let alone a paint-brush. Naturally, she didn't give a straight answer, her frozen figure going back to her action of braiding her hair.

"Depends, you got a canvas?" She kept her cool and didn't make eye contact with anyone. Rei was used to the action. The only way she could break out of her best acts was by making eye contact and talking to the person straight forward. She didn't expect an answer from Totsuka, so she just regarded any thoughts of having to touch a can of spray-paint.

"Well," As Totsuka began to speak, Rei turned sharp, ruby colored eyes on the man, narrow and a bit angry. "We do have that room-"

"I said she could stay in that room, not vandalize it," Izumo decided to walk into the room from the kitchen, a slightly angrier look on his face as he glared at Totsuka who was about to suggest the worst. Rei couldn't help herself but to chuckle at the two before continuing the braid of a long strand of hair. She never got why people always told her to get a hair-cut. So what if she hasn't touched her hair since she was twelve? "Speaking of which, did you clean it out, like I asked?"

Totsuka just laughed and waved away the slightly irritated look on Izumo's face, shutting off his camera and place it in his lap. "Of course, it's all clean; I don't think Rei will like it, though," Rei hated being talked about as though she weren't there.

Kusanagi let his shades slide to the tip of his nose as he stared down both Clansmen, his eyes narrow. "Oh, and why not?"

* * *

Reina literally wanted to kill herself. This room was awful and disgusting. She didn't even start to consider staying at this bar and she already knew it'd take ten men to get her more than two steps into that room. Heat burned off her cold skin and she stared deeper into the bland, white, tempting walls. "This…is a disgrace," The pale haired woman hissed and despite feeling Kusanagi's hateful glare from behind her, she still continued on to insult his beloved building. "Izumo-kun, I thought you had more creativity than this, and you expected me to even consider thinking about staying here? Please, not even if you forced me." Rei walked on to the wall and glowered at its dull color. "Even if you managed to lock me in here without any material to paint, I would still make she's walls a bit more lively with my own blood." She finally tilted her head to the side to meet Izumo's ever darkening gaze. In all honesty, she was doing this more for fun than to get to her point about how dull this room was, no matter how truthful it was to how tempting it was to do some splatter paint in there. "It's that bad, Izumo-kun,"

"What did I tell ya'?" Totsuka beamed from Izumo's side and gestured towards Rei. "I have to agree with her, this room is boring," The third in command pretended to swoon in a faint-full way. "Oh, ever so dull, it is,"

"Shut up!" Kusanagi snapped and smacked Tatara upside his head. Totsuka winced but his smile didn't fade as he chuckled and looked back up at his friend. Izumo growled at him one last time before returning a slightly less angered look at Rei, who just looked at them with an amused smirk. "Reina, you do not have to stay here, but since you've nowhere else to go, I figured it'd be nice to offer, anyway,"

"It's a nice offer, but unless I get the right to paint this, I'd rather live in a trashcan," Rei said flatly.

"Didn't you say you would never pick up another paintbrush again, Onee-sama?" The small voice caught Rei off guard, and once again she had to refresh her memory of her little sister's powers. Hell, she didn't even know Anna was around at the time, for all she knew, her little sister was still sleeping on the couch with Tobi. But sure enough, Anna came too and over to the room that the HOMRA veterans presented, with the cedar colored canine at one side and the other a rather bored and casual looking, red haired King. Couldn't he have just stayed asleep?

Totsuka turned surprised, light brown eyes on the girl and she had to bite the inside of her cheek to keep herself from swearing to herself. It was always a bad habit of hers to swear. A lot. She had such foul language, and sometimes she did care, sometimes she didn't. The only times she cared was when she was around her little sister, though. Rei sighed and brushed her hand through her thick, white hair. "Eh, I'm still considering it…It's been a while, Anna-chan, since I've even seen a paintbrush." She tch'd and looked back at the white walls. She couldn't help but want to laugh at herself; she was calling something painted the dull color of white, and she had white hair. How boring… "Besides, I doubt I'm even that good now; it's been five years, after all."

Rei could hear Kusanagi sigh bitterly, and she looked over at the blond to see him hanging his head, rubbing his temples. "I guess I could give you the right to paint it, if you decide to." Once again, the pale haired girl was caught off-guard by unexpected words. But the surprise didn't last long, when she returned her signature, smug, half smile, a taunting glint in her ruby colored eyes.

"Oh really? And you won't call it graffiti?" Rei decided to be cruel, taunting the bartender with words that foreshadowed a design with spray-paint, other than just a simple coat of a color of splatter paint. Kusanagi flinched at her words, and she could clearly see the man seething with a boiling rage. She was going to enjoy her stay here.

"N-No…I won't call it graffiti, no matter what you choose to do,"

* * *

_**Flashback**_

_Reina pulled off her surgical mask and threw away her last can of white spray paint. Looking up at her creation, she smiled slightly, placing her hands on her hips and tilting her head to get just the perfect image in her head of her newest masterpiece. The thought of the school forcing her to paint over it with the former color- a very dull and old looking beige, mind you- didn't even haunt her mind. Nope, not one bit did her mind drift to the consequences of her creation. Rei was happy and that's all a fifteen-year old needed in this world. Satisfied with her work, the pale haired teen walked over to her bag, slightly kicking away empty cans of spray paint, and she dug into the front pocket and pulled out an old flip-phone. The teen rested one hand on her hip and tilted her head after dialing in a number and holding the phone to her ear. _

_At this time, Rei was slightly shorter with a more childish look to herself. Her hair was shorter, at least to the middle of her back, and wasn't in as many layers at it was as a young adult. Her eyes weren't as piercing and her features weren't as sharp. She wore the tradition school uniform, even though she loathed the skirt. Shorts she could handle, but not skirts. And the shoes didn't help either. Urg! If it weren't for her King, she wouldn't have to wear this. She didn't care what the school board thought, but she didn't fear what hell her King could unleash on her. Though, if the teen could have it her way, she'd be wearing combat boots, a simple band t-shirt and jeans. Ah, well. _

_It only took two rings for her friend, Tatara Totsuka to answer his phone. "Konichiwa, Rei-chan! Eh…but why didn't you call the others? You know my phone's about dead!" Totsuka pouted through the phone speaker. Rei just sighed and rolled her eyes, hoping that somehow he knew what she was doing. _

"_I called you because Izumo forgot his phone, and there's no way in bat shit crazy hell I'll be calling Mikoto…" Rei explained and paced infront of the wall, making sure to keep an eye out for any teachers. She was not willing to have to explain once again to the school staff about her 'vandalism.' If you could even call it that. Personally, Rei thought her creations were art that should be well respected. Or else._

"_You're so picky, Rei-chan! Anyway, what is it you need?" _

"_Come check out what I did at the back of the school! It's sick, Totsuka-san!" Once again, enthusiasm and that old, skater-like attitude came back to the teenager as she looked back at her work, smiling like hell about it. _

"_Oh, Rei-chan, don't tell me you brought-" Totsuka sounded very shameful and disappointed in Rei, and at first the pale haired teen had no idea what idea he was getting until she realized it quite clearly. _

"_No, no, no!" Rei waved her hands, as though her classmate was right infront of her. "I didn't do that! It's a new art project I've been working on since this morning." _

"_Oh! So is that where you've been for the past eight hours! For shame, Rei-chan!" Totsuka taunted. "I was wondering where you were in biology…and algebra, and…" His list went on, and that Reina knew, so she decided to cut him off while she can. She hated waiting and wasting time._

"_Just get over here, god damnit!" The teenager snapped into the phone and hung up, slapping the palm of her hand on her forehead. How she put up with Totsuka, she could not begin to fathom. She looked back at her design, and her smile frowned. There was something wrong. Everything was perfect all the way to the flame detail to the thorns on the stem…but something was wrong. Rei picked up a can of red spray-paint and got to her work again, adjusting the length of one of the petals of the scorched roses and then adding a more burned detail to the base. This was true art to her. Beauty within destruction. People always told her she had a real talent, before she'd just be bashful and deny it, but sudden confident boasts made her a stonewall to criticism. Humming to herself, she began on the background of her masterpiece, which she was debating between more flames or something more creative and have the burning rose on a puddle of gasoline. Her ideas made Rei want to bring her art more to life, but the last time she lit something on purpose for an artistic reason, she was suspended for two weeks and then given a very hateful punishment for it. _

_Rei would never go a week without getting the latest orders and info from the rest of the Clan._

"_Rei-chan!" Reina flinched at the voice, afraid that it was a teacher or something, but the vocal patterns registered soon enough and she realized it was another enthusiastic greeting from Totsuka. That was quick… The pale haired woman turned her head to face her friends…and an unwelcomed red head, but she smiled none the less and waved them over before continuing on the platinum-like surface of painted gasoline. Totsuka hurried to her side and looked up at the large mural. "Wow, Rei! This is awesome!" _

"_Isn't this graffiti?" Reina's jaw clenched and she cast a side glance at Kusanagi, who stood not far away at his friend's side, looking up at the painting. How dare he call her work graffiti?! The teen hissed at herself and shook the now empty can of silver paint before trying once more to get paint out of it and then casting it aside. _

"_It's art," She stated simply, continuing her work, though she was thinking about calling it a day soon. _

"_Are you one of those people who call graffiti art and people have a right to express themselves on private property?" Mikoto inquired with that irritated and rarely heard deep voice of his. Once again, Rei threw daggers at him, but he still stared at her with dull, amber eyes. _

"_No, this is art. Graffiti is just stupid, sloppy writing done by a bunch of dumbass brats that have nothing better to do with their lives and have an uncreative mind." Even though her words were harsh, her tone of voice was calm as she continued with the platinum surface. "This is art." She repeated. _

"_This is vandalism." Kusanagi grunted. Angered, Rei threw another empty can at the blond with harsh words._

"_Shut the fuck up, Blondie!"_

* * *

After the others left, Rei walked through the room, sitting herself on the lone bed and sighing. What in the world of hell brought her to this place? She was doing just fine without the Red Clan. Sure, she was running for her life from bullets and very angry gang members who had her as a prisoner for over a year…But, she could help herself perfectly fine. So, why in hell did fate lead her here? Why did she have to run into some of the main members of HOMRA of all people in that warehouse? Not that she'd be happier once again under the Yakuza's lock and key. There was also another question that haunted her mind.

What in hell was going through Mikoto's mind when he made her a Clansman again? Rei thought that he hated her, and she hated him in return. Once again, the pale haired girl sighed and ran her hand through her hair. This was frustrating. Why couldn't life be simple and logical?

Well, if it was like that, Rei would be bored out of her mind.

"Onee-sama?" Rei was really starting to get annoyed of Anna's habit of sneaking up on her. Though, instead of snarling at her little sister, Rei turned her head to the loli dressed eight-year-old and smiled.

"Hey, Anna-chan," She said in that sweet tone of hers. Anna nodded and walked up to her, climbing onto the bed, Tobi following close behind and curling up in between the two. Rei was happy that Tobi was getting along with her sister. It was one less thing to worry about now that she'd be staying with HOMRA and seeing her sister every day. "How've you been?"

"Good," Anna answered simply and yawned, laying her head in Rei's lap. The motion was so natural, yet it made her flinch. It'd been so long since she'd talked to her sister, yet here they were acting as though they've been with each other for a while. Anna's ruby eyes trailed to the bare walls. "What will you paint?"

Rei started brushing out Anna's long, snowy locks and sighed, looking at the white walls as well. "I dunno…what do you want me to paint?" She inquired with a hum in her voice as she started to braid Anna's hair. Her hair also got really long in the past five years. She still had those cute bangs, though.

"Can it be red?" Anna asked quietly, looking up at her sister with wide eyes. Rei grinned at her and thought on it. Once again she had to remind herself of her sister, and that included her color blindness. The only color she could see was red. Kinda made Rei feel bad for the girl, in an artist's way of thinking. She could only see the red in art. Not that red wasn't a good color.

"Do you know what color travels farthest?" Rei inquired with a tilt of her head, straight, snowy lock fell off her shoulder and lightly touched Anna's cheek as the girl looked up at her older sister. Anna blinked twice, indicating she didn't know and once again her innocent appearance made Rei scoff lightly. Tobi huffed, looking at her with wide green eyes that pleaded an answer, much like Anna's eyes. "It's red."

* * *

It was sunset, and Rei was getting pretty pissed that Yata and Kamamoto hadn't returned with her things. Patience wasn't her best characteristic. Rei sat on a bar stool, cross legged and shaking her right leg, her jaw was clenched and her long, silver hair pooled in her lap and over her hands. A low growl was beginning to start in her chest as she watched the sun set from outside of the bar. She could hear subtle chatter between Totsuka, Kusanagi, and some other HOMRA boys, Bando- a very shaded man with dark glasses and always wore his hood over his head- and Shouhei- a boyish looking man that wore a ball cap. It was all background noise to her, she was too content on the sun setting and the door than anything else.

"So…how'd you meet Mikoto, Totsuka, and Kusanagi?" A question directed at her made Rei's jaw clench and then unclench as she turned at Shohei. Kusanagi stood behind the bar counter, while Totsuka was fiddling with his guitar on the couch, Shouhei took a seat next to Rei, and Bando was standing next to him. Both HOMRA boys were looking at Rei, probably expecting her to answer. Great.

Rei took in a breath and looked at the ceiling. "I met Izumo-kun through Mikoto, and Totsuka I knew as the class saint since middle school." She explained, purposely leaving out one specific story. Though, it seemed both men noticed her fluke. They stared at her with expecting looks. Ignoring them, she continued to stare at the door, trying to shut out their presences and voices.

"So what about Mikoto?"

Rei was about to answer when she glanced over Bando's shoulder to see the King himself standing by the stairs. She tch'd and looked away, and she heard the faint noise of him grunting his amusement. "Do you want to have the honor? After all, more than likely I'll change it up to make you sound like a total asshole about it.," She snickered at the redhead.

"Hn…" Mikoto sighed and rolled his shoulders back, looking at the ceiling. Rei rolled her eyes at the King. "Let's just say in the end, she murdered someone…" Shohei spit out some of his drink and shot a quick glance at Mikoto to make sure he wasn't joking before gawking at Rei, who only stared at the King with a hateful glare. After a few seconds, the woman crossed her arms and looked the other way.

"I didn't kill her, just severed an artery. It's your fault anyway," She protested and was about to continue her counter when the door flew open. Rei's head snapped to the two HOMRA boys that came through, both were the ones she was waiting for. Great. Yata sulked from behind Kamamoto as they came through, both looked shameful. All of the sudden Rei wasn't as thrilled as she once was. "What the hell took you so long?!" She snapped. Generally, it shouldn't take over three hours to get to her place, get her stuff, and get out. The only thing she could think of that would excuse them or delay them would be the Yakuza.

"For one, you got the address wrong in your phone," Yata spat, tossing her phone to her and Rei caught it and shoved it into her pocket. "By the time we got there, the place was swarming with Yakuza bastards." Rei huffed. Figures. Sighing, she got up and whistled at Tobi, deciding to take matters into her own hands. It should be as hard now that she got the Aura back.

"What did you do to piss the Yakuza off?" Kusanagi asked from behind her while Rei grabbed her dagger from the counter. The woman glanced up at the blond and scoffed.

"Let's just say I killed a bunch of people and got my hands on some pretty valuable information," She explained nonchalantly with a shrug of her shoulders. Tobi was already waiting eagerly at the door with some kind of smile on his maw. The mutt yapped at her, telling her to hurry on and she did, crossing over to the double doors and waving back at the crew. "See ya'," And Rei left without another word.

The HOMRA boys stared at the doorway where that pale haired woman exited. Silenced. Most of the gang couldn't help but ponder Rei's opinion on death and murder. She seemed so acustomed to it, but others knew she was hiding her true feelings.

"Follow her, make sure she doesn't get into any more trouble." Mikoto ordered before walking back upstairs. Anna got up from her spot on the couch and followed him, grabbing onto his sleeve.

* * *

A slight burning sensation hit Rei's neck, and she stopped on the corner of the street, pressing her palm to the side of her neck. Her fingers were cold to the touch, but the skin there was slightly warmer than the rest of her body. Rei chuckled and her jaw clenched. "So that's how it is, huh?" Tobi looked up at her, tilting his puppy-dog face, his ears drooped to the side as he peered up at her, wonder and concern in his mossy green eyes. The pale haired woman just laughed and shook her head.

"It starts out like a cold and frigid night…then comes to the spark and flicker." She whispered and removed her hand from the flame-like insignia on her neck.

* * *

Kusanagi opened the door to his King's room and sighed, seeing the red haired man completely in slumber like usual. The bartender chuckled aimlessly and leaned again the wall, pushing his glasses up his nose to get a better look around. Anna sat on the bed, looking over at Kusanagi with her marble. He couldn't help but wonder what she was seeing. Instead of speaking, the blond just nodded at her and sighed. "You awake, by any chance?" He directed at Mikoto who shifted slightly on the couch.

"More or less, what is it?" Mikoto's deep voice was muffled, but still audible. The King sat up and turned to look at his second in command. Both veterans stared at each other for a while before Totsuka came in unannounced. The youngest of the three smiled and waved at the two.

"Great, you're both here!" Totsuka quipped and shut the door quietly behind them. Mikoto simple rolled his eyes at the dirty blond.

"Of course I'm here, this is my room…" He grumbled lazily and leaned back on the couch.

Totsuka just waved his slightly rude statement away and shook off the tension. Kusanagi couldn't understand why he was so carefree for such a reckless guy. Ah, well. "A lot's happened today, huh?" The King gave an agreeing grunt and Kusanagi just looked at the ceiling, his mind wondering else were. Sorta.

"Speaking of which," The bartender began. "Why'd you take in Reina?" He finally met his King's amber gaze, a gaze that was slightly irritated of the question but also understandable. Kusanagi went straight to correcting himself of his curiosity. "I mean, you two hate each other, right? She didn't even want to go back to the Red Clan…" Now Totsuka was staring at him, wide eyed and a little surprised looking about Izumo's question.

"I did it because she needed it. Rei is a handful, but she needed to get back with the Red Clan, whether she and I liked it or not. Simple as that," Mikoto answered with a straight face, never leaving Kusanagi's stare. All three stood in silence, until Totsuka spoke. This time sounding more serious than usual.

"What do you mean she needed to come back?"

"Rei has gone cold to the core,"

* * *

**A/N:** Cliffhanger? xD Sorry if this wasn't top notch, especially the end….I wanted to put more into it, but…eh…The point I wanted to get across is the fact that Rei has gone completely unfeeling inside and out. She's cold as ice and all that blah-blah. Yay! Character development!

What'd ya'll think about our little Sister/Sister bonding time? By the way, the idea about what color travels farthest and that is red and all that wasn't mine! I got the idea from Kingdom Hearts when Axel is talking to Roxas at the Clock Tower and starts being somewhat of a compassionate smartass.

Anyway, leave your thoughts and critics in a review! Drop a favorite and a follow, even! Just show that love! Teehee…Speaking of which- Review Replies!

**Morriel**~ Thank you! I'm looking forward to more too! Hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Miechan-ish**~ Thank you and here you go! One hot and ready update! Yeah, that's basically what Reina is…I dunno why, but I frequently find myself making OC's slightly resembling a tsundere in_** some**_ way…Anyway, hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Painted Notes**~ I'm excited too, and thanks for reading Ana! Luv ya'!

**Draegan88**~ Oh, gawds you watch it in one go? I could never have done that…too much sadness…Well, I'm glad you liked the series and I hope you like this fanfiction!

**Kenzou91**~ Hehe, thanks! Here's the nice fresh and new update for you! I hope this pleases you.

Whelp, that's about it…like I said, feel free to drop a review, favorite, and follow. I'll try as hard as I can to get back to you reviewers.

Ciao!

-Bartrice


	3. Flare

**Chapter Three**

**Flare**

"I don't understand how you can see so well at night, Yata-san!" Kamamoto mumbled from behind the brunette. Yata rolled his eyes and scowled at his partner, once again his concentration was broken. And it was beginning to tick him off. The two had been waiting for Rei's big entrance for maybe fifteen minutes. What was taking her so long?

"Shut up! I'm trying to focus!" His scolded, keeping his eyes trained at the front of the ten story apartment building. He may or may not have come to the realization that maybe there were a bunch of Yakuza because they owned the whole complex. At the front stood two guards, both holding hand guns of some sort. Yata wasn't quite familiar with guns, pistols, and all that. Everything was the same to him. It didn't take long for things to start to unsettle.

Both guards noticed something from afar and looked over, a cedar colored, wolf-like mutt stood not far away, barking at the men like any stray would do. Raised voices were heard, and the man farther behind rose his gun, but a skinny arm wrapped around his head before he could pull the trigger and slowly, brought down to his knees as the man fainted. A woman with pale, almost white hair kneeled over the man and rose slightly, keeping her ruby tinted pupils trained on the remaining guard.

A sharp whistle signaled towards Tobi and the dog dropped his stray act and lunged at the man, biting down on his arm before he could fire his gun. Reina then quickly and swiftly pulled her hand over the man's mouth and slide her favorite blade over his throat. Once again, she made sure the man dropped as silently as possible before rising to a straight posture and waving at the dog. Both quickly proceeded into the building.

"That's our cue." Yata grunted. He had to give her credit. She was clever and swift. Didn't make much of a mess. But he had to wonder if Rei had any plan at all. She didn't seem much of the strategic type. More of a instinctive person than anything else.

"What cue?" Kamamoto quipped, and once again the youngest of the two rolled his eyes and groaned. Why couldn't he just have a partner that knew how to keep up with things?

* * *

Rei groaned, leaning up against the wall. Everything was perfectly fine up until the fifth floor where her apartment was. There was a lackey at every door. She blew a strand of white hair out of her face in a sad attempt to sigh and smoothed her thumb over the small switch blade in her hand. The woman gathered just a couple more knives from her pocket and took a deep breath. She looked down at Tobi, who stood at her side, sitting down and looking up at her with a wide smile. Rei rolled her eyes.

"Why do you always have to look at me like I'm going to give you candy?" She hissed quietly at the mutt, whose smile only widened at the mention of candy. Rei shook her head and continued to plan. Not everything was as complicated as they seemed, but she presumed it would be worse once she got to her apartment room. More than likely the bastards were scouring the place for those codes. She was only ten doors away from her place, and maybe a dozen men with simple pistols stood in her path. Maybe.

Rei took in a deep breath and let the Red Aura work its magic as flames began to burn off her arms, lashing out violently as she opened her ruby eyes. She turned and threw a knife at the nearest man, flames lighting up the blade as it left her grip. Gunshots were fired and Tobi ran from Rei's side to attack another man, his cry of warning cut off by a snarling mutt.

"You're dead!" A man shouted and ran after Rei, she smirked and grabbed his arm, slamming her own in the nook of his elbow and knocking out the pistol from his hand. She stomped on the pistol, the handle adjusting to fit under the heel of her boots, and held it there, pointing away from the commotion.

"Ladies first!" She snarled and jabbed her second knife into the guy's neck, she missed the artery, but the man went down in pain nonetheless. Another bullet shot, and Rei had to think quick on a warning from Tobi, shifting her footing she barely missed a badly aimed shot. The bullet still grazed her arm and her senses went to panic. She'd ran out of knives in her hand, and she didn't have too much time to gather the next few carefully. Quickly, Rei opened the door to another apartment to block a few other bullets as she kicked up the gun and picked it up off her boot, making a blind aim as she shot from the side of the door without even looking. There was only one bullet left.

"So much for that plan," She hissed, realizing she had missed her shot. Rei had to quickly pull her arm in as another round of shots came. She cocked the gun and tried once more to see if it really was out of amo, but to her avail; it was baren. With a growl, she threw the gun away and flinched as another wave of bullets made terrifying and nerve-racking thuds on the door. "Damn, can't they be fair and just give me some time?" The woman groaned and pulled out Hot Stuff, putting it in her mouth as she loosened from knives from her boot and grabbed a few switch blades from her pocket. She grunted and kicked the door closed before spinning around and flinging three daggers at one man. He was wearing a bullet proof vest…

_Oh, come on!_

Rei tch'd and ran a few feet to the man, grabbing his arm and yanking him forward before kneeing him in the gut and flipping him on the back. "And stay down," She hissed. The clansman looked ahead to see her dog in the lead and rolled her eyes, they got at least half of them down. "Six more to go," She said through clenched teeth and threw another blade at the nearest man. He managed to dodge it, but that was the intention. Diversion.

With this chance, Rei sped up her pace and ran forward at a speed that was almost blinding. In a moment's notice, she was already behind the man, dagger in hand and dripping off blood. The man fell forward without another sound. Without even a pause, Rei continued and dashed to another group, ready to perform some other stunts and she got straight in the first man's face and flipped back in a handstand, kicking her leg up to hit the man right under the chin. Stunned, the man fell back and Rei's legs were still in midair, stilled there for just a second before she spun around, knives flung from her boot and at the two remaining men. One hit a man squarely in the chest, another fell short but still managed to pierce the other's leg and cause him to fall. Flipping back up on her feet, Rei threw one last dagger at the last man standing.

She didn't want to look as the knife hit the man in the neck and he made his last, blood filled breaths and fell to his death. Rei sighed and let her hair fall infront of her face, blocking her peripheral vision so she could only see the one spot of the tiled floor that wasn't stained with the blood of the men she and Tobi had just killed. Taking a deep breath, she finally looked around. Each blood stain had a story to it. A past, a present, and now no future. No words were said, but still…

Closing her eyes again, Rei sent a silent prayer to the souls that would either remain in Limbo or move on to whatever Heaven or Hell there was.

Tobi returned to the pale haired woman's side, and looked up at her with a concerned face. A frown even. He whimpered at her, feeling the remorse and sorrow coming from her as she held her eyes closed. Another motion caused the mutt's concern to shift to curiosity as he looked over, alarmed now his ears perked and he barked over at the faint sound of a hushed argument. Rei opened her eyes and looked down at the growling dog, giving him a half smile as she flicked his head. "Hey, enough," She said sternly and looked ahead at what Tobi was looking at. Figures. "Don't think I don't fucking see you, Short Fuse and Company,"

Sure as hell, the two made her appearance known. Yata stepped out from the corner looking steamed as always, the notion caused Rei's lips to curl a little more, and Kamamoto came out from hiding, as well. "Who are you calling Short Fuse, huh, Snowy Locks?" Misaki bit back at her. Rei's jaw clenched and her eyes narrowed at the youngster, though he didn't seem to notice. Or care even. Kamamoto mumbled a warning towards him, but that seemed to only tic the vanguard off even more. Rei rolled her eyes as the two began their bickering and looked back down at Tobi.

"Thank god, you can't talk, mutt," She said sharply, but the dog just yapped at her and smiled like usual. Again, she rolled her eyes. "Do you even care about what I'm saying to you?" His bark wasn't really much of a clear answer. He smiled none the less and walked down the hall to start staring at the two bickering Red Clansmen. Watching the mutt leave her side, Rei redirected her attention to her recent wounds. She checked herself over in case any fresh wounds were reopened and then looked at her bicep where the bullet shot from earlier grazed her. What was it with wounds always hurting more when you look at them?

Rei winced and grabbed her bicep in a lame attempt to stop the flow of blood from the wound. It was small, but, hell, it hurt. A lot. Not to mention a couple bruises here and there, they were sure to ache the next day. Now that her body was in check, Rei made another sweep around to make sure anyone was alive before picking up the many blades that were either on the floor, the wall, or in someone's body. The few people that were still alive were out cold. Except for one man who stood squirming against the wall, one of Rei's knives stuck in his leg. The man was trying with shaky hands to fumble with his phone. More than likely he was trying to call for back up.

Rei knelt down to the man, and her appearance sent the man in another fit. She groaned and thought for a moment. Did everyone have to fear her like this? Then, she yanked out her knife from the lackey's leg and wiped it clean before shoving it back into her boot. She looked at the man and sighed, shaking her head. With a calm movement, Rei took the phone from the man and turned it off. "Get out of here. You don't want to be with these assholes, believe me. Take this chance and run, got it? More than likely whatever reinforcements that come will take you back only to have yourself killed because you failed to retrieve the codes. So, get the fuck out of here," Despite the kind notion to warn the guy, her voice still held a sharp, aggressive, and stern tone as she spoke to him. The man was shaky, but nodded none the less. Rei dropped the phone and rose to her feet, stomping on the device just to make sure the guy wasn't going to make any stupid moves and then looking away as the man rose to his feet and fled. Yata and Kamamoto stepped aside as the man came through. Kamamoto's jaw dropped, and Yata looked at Rei with wide eyes.

Who knew she had a little mercy in her?

"Don't look at me like that." Rei huffed, turning to look at the two HOMRA boys. "What? Did you think I was heartless?" Slowly turning her head, her ruby gaze saddened as she stared down the hall where bodies lay. "No one deserves to die, unless Fate deems it so,"

Both men were amazed to see this side of Rei. They found it hard to believe her, split between her words being truth or this just being another act she put up. A typical reaction to her more colored side. Rei scoffed and rolled her eyes. Yata wiped clean his widened gaze and tch'd. "So, what does that make you? Fate?"

"The rebel." Rei said simply and sheathed her favorite blade. "Nothing more, but maybe a little less. Deception is my greatest skill, and I use it to my advantage," She gave up, and groaned. Ever since she was young she hated herself for going into poetic speeches. "Screw it, I regret taking those damn Drama lessons. Messing up my way of talking," She grumbled and walked down the hall to room 510. Rei had to wonder how the Yakuza lackeys didn't notice the commotion. Maybe they were too engaged in their search to even care if she was coming or not.

* * *

_**Flashback**_

_Rain dribbled down her chin and the white haired girl sighed, looking down on her latest kill. Rei shook her head sympathetically and pulled her hood over her head. How many times would she have to do this until her life debt would be square? Rei didn't want to do this, but…it felt like she had no other choice. This was the bidding of the Red King, and she owed her life to that man. But still…Rei couldn't help feeling the weight of so many lost souls on her shoulders. _

_Feeling somewhat watched, the albino teen turned around to glare across the rooftop of the building at a certain redhead. Of course, her King had sent someone to keep an eye on her. As usual, it was always him. That red-headed teen stared at her and then the man on the ground, his amber gaze darkening slightly. Rei was getting a little annoyed that her King didn't trust her after all of these years, but even more ticked that of all people he sent, it had to be her best friend. _

"_Can I help you?" She bit at the red head and he looked back over at her. Without a word, he just shrugged and dug his hands in his pockets. He walked over to her, and Rei had to resist the urge to turn and walk away. "I don't understand why the King has to send lackeys out here to watch me. I'm sure at least you have something better to do than to keep my ass in check. Right, Suoh-kun?" Rei tried her best to keep her shaky edge out of her tone of voice as she spoke steadily. The teen crossed her arms and stared bluntly at the other as he approached her. Once again, his gaze shifted to the body of the man Rei was assigned to kill. "I don't know his name, but he was a business man. Had two sons, they're both in college, and his wife died some years ago. I met him before, but it was brief."_

_Mikoto glanced over at her with a solemn look. "There was another on the list that you could've taken, she was a complete stranger. She wasn't even in Shizume." Rei shot a glare at the redhead, her rubied eyes turned sharp and angry with a slight hint of hurt. Instead of looking intimidated by his long-time friend, he just smirked and rolled his shoulders back as the two began to walk back to stairwell that exited from the roof of the building. "That's right, you vowed not to kill women or children," _

_Rei huffed and opened the door to the stairwell, allowing her redheaded accomplice to go before her and then stepping in, closing the door silently. "The term child speaking literally and figuratively." She grunted halfheartedly. With each blunt step down the winding stairs, water dripped from the tips of her white, bland hair. Silence over took the two teens, and younger of the two took the silence to think for a moment. Why didn't she just leave if she didn't want to do this for the rest of her life? Or at least until the old man died. Simple answer- Reina always kept her promises, and thus expected for others' promises to be kept as well. _

"_The others wouldn't believe you thought like that, what with the way you act around them," Mikoto interrupted her small thoughts and she looked back up at the redhead. She smirked and shook her head, laughing slightly. It was almost like he knew what she was thinking. Kinda scary, if you thought on it deeply._

"_It's called being a good actress,"_

* * *

Rei swung open the door and to her surprise, no one was there. Ruby eyes narrowed in an aggravated way and the albino slowly walked in, cautious of anyone who might be hiding. "What?" Her voice held a tone of confusion and a ticked off edge. She looked around, it truly did look like this place was ransacked by junkies looking for any type of pill or pills they could find. Wild junkies at that. But where were all the lackeys? The brutes and smartasses? Where were they? Rei glanced over at the two HOMRA boys who stood with empty expressions at the doorway. It hit her like a glass door. "How many guys got away when you…" She had to bite her lip to say it. "_Saved_ me...?" The words tasted like poison.

Yata looked at Kamamoto and then at the ceiling, scratching his head as the youngest of the group thought. "Uh…." He stalled, and glanced back at Rei, He made a one symbol with his finger and confirmed his claim with a tight nod. "One,"

Rei grunted. "Figures," She stated, crossing her arms and shaking her head. "The bastard that got away must've known if he said he failed and I got away he would've been killed on the spot, so instead he lied and said that I killed the others and he was the one that killed me, possibly in a way that would cause him to be unable to retrieve my body. So, given that information, they sent a smaller group of lackeys instead of a whole fucking armada to scope out my apartment. And that group that we just passed was the search party," She spoke her thoughts outright as they came, not wanting to waste time by thinking over her claim. Rei made a quick motion at Tobi, sending him to his scouting business, while she turned to bodily face the other two. It'd been so long since she hid those codes, she forgot where they were so she decided to just let the hound take the job of searching.

"Great deductions," Kamamoto muttered. Once again, Rei broke through her serious mood and snickered with a shrug, causing her pale locks to fall over her shoulder in a loop.

"Just a theory, besides there's a great chance that the guy that I let go has my codes and we'll have to track him down or something, not that I intend to rest until I get those codes," She said bluntly in a sing-song kind of way as she scratched the back of her neck and turned, following her dog as he trailed around with his nose to the ground, leaving the two men behind her gaping and looking exhausted.

"So, what are these codes anyway?" Yata growled, walking more into the apartment and setting his skateboard against the wall and looking around as Rei disappeared into her bedroom.

"Oh, just some passcodes to cellphones and computers." She called, waving at them from the door, then she poked her head out, a slight pout on her face. "I told you I played a hacker, didn't I?" The two gave her a confused look, and she just scoffed and rolled her eyes, disappearing again from the door to continue her search for the codes.

"What does that even mean?" Yata asked, walking over to her, only to stop at the door frame with one of Rei's switch blades pointed towards his ankles. Hazel eyes looked dully at the blade and then at the girl who was seated not far away on the floor, there was a small blade in her other hand, tracing the corner where the two walls met, and Hot Stuff was stuffed in her mouth. Her focus was trained on the wall, yet she still had the time to glance over at Misaki with a mischievous gleam in her ruby eyes.

"It means I'm an actress, simple as that, Misaki," Rei purred his name as she looked back at her work. She could only figure that he hated his first name, after all it did sound pretty girl-ish. Maybe it was worse than Short Fuse…Ah, only time could tell. Discarding any rude comments from the boy, Rei watched the blade as it slid down the corner until its sharp edge hit a split in the wall and halted with a slight jolt. The albino's lips curled and she slipped the flick-blade in her other hand back into her sleeve and grabbed Hot Stuff from her mouth, placing its curved tip in place of her other blade. She quickly stuffed her last blade into her pocket and took a deep breath before flames engulfed her whole hand and moved to coat the black blade of her favorite weapon of choice, then she went to work at sawing away at the wall with smooth movements, the heat of the flames working through the plaster like butter.

After carving out a…rather janky looking square, Rei tilted the blade upward and pulled at the block until it slid out to reveal that only that single block in the entire wall was hollowed out, and in it stowed away was a necklace with three dog tags hanging from it. She picked up the necklace and smirked, shoving the block back into the wall. "Perfect," Rei quipped and stood up. Tobi was still by her side, and the whole time the look of concentration was on his maw until that moment, then he just looked up at his pale haired owner with a smile. Brushing her pale hair from her face, Rei let out a breath and looked at the two before walking by them and towards the exit. "Alright, you guys gotta scram somehow," She muttered, not needing to look back to know the two were following her. She stepped out of the room and across the hall to the fire alarm.

"Can't we just walk out?" Yata questioned from behind as Rei place her hand on the fire alarm switch. She winced a little and then grinned slightly, glancing back at the younger Clansman. He watched her with an irritated look and she had to hold back a scoff. He was nearly like the King, only with a bigger mouth. It was kinda funny. So funny, it made her slip up her control on herself and giggle. Only, it was stopped half way and the albino pursed her lips and turned back at the fire alarm before reclaiming her former expression.

"Well…I don't want to leave any traces, so…I'll have to burn the place down to make sure the Yakuza group that's looking for these fucking codes don't get any ideas…" Rei ignored any glares or confused looks the two gave her, obviously saying that if she were to burn the place down more than likely the group would assume it was her. "So, you'll have to scram while I get a few things packed. Kay?" Without giving them time to answer, Rei pulled the lever down and braced herself for the screeching of the fire alarms and the brought lights flashing down the hall. The sound was ear-splitting, but the woman adjusted to it soon enough and she turned to the two, waving her hands at them. "What are you waiting for, get the hell out of here, dumbasses!" She snapped, quickly moving back to her room as the hall began to flood with people.

Yata and Rikio tried to protest, but Rei just blocked out any outbursts from them until they gave up and left, blending in with the panicked crowd. Rei walked back into her apartment and into her room, her face fell as she found all the scattered items on the floor. It would take forever to pick out each article of clothing through the mess. Rei eighty-sixed the idea and scowled, snapping her fingers at the cedar colored mutt that stopped to scratch himself near the door way. "Get out of here, stupid!" She shouted at the dog. "Follow Short Fuse and Kamamoto-san!" She snapped, gnashing her teeth at Tobi when he didn't respond and just tilted his head. Rei glanced over at the wall and groaned, covering her face with her hand. "And take that skateboard with you," She grumbled the last command, glaring at the mutt through her hand and her hair.

Finally understanding, the beast got up and walked over to the skateboard, clasped his jaws around its body, and then left with a dash. Rei rolled her eyes. Of all the things she managed to put up with, that pup was probably the strangest. Tobi had a responsive personality, as though he understood her words. He was also a little thief too. The first she met the mutt was an occurrence of his thievery. He had managed broken into a high-class restaurant and stole a whole meals worth of food. Rei was just walking down the street when he was making his big escape, and…naturally she helped with the chase and pinned Tobi down. Bastard had some fight in him for a one-year-old. Respecting him, Rei gave him some of her food, which was only half of her sandwich, and he hasn't left her side. At first it was annoying, but she got used to it and made use of his company.

Smiling at her memories, Rei saw the glint of light against leather and turned to grab at least one thing; her favorite jacket. It was only a necessity. After slipping on the hood-less jacket, she wondered out of her room, walking closely to the wall and sliding her hand against the plaster leaving a trail of flames. Every step she took greeted a new flare on the floor. "Time to split," She muttered under her breath with a slight smirk.

* * *

Yata groaned, remembering his left his skateboard back at Rei apartment. "Fuck!" He hissed, his jaw clenched and he tch'd, looking the other way. "She better not burn that," The chestnut-haired boy grumbled, glaring ahead as he continued his walk down the street.

"You left your skateboard?" Kamamoto asked with a cautious look. Misaki gave him a curt nod and ground his teeth together, pondering on whether or not she'd purposely leave it there to burn or not. "I'm sure Reina-san will bring it back," The other of the two reassured the younger, but he didn't feel convinced.

"Whatever," Yata grunted and crossed his arms behind his head, leaning back a little. A familiar, high –pitched bark alerted the HOMRA lackeys and the two slowly turned around to face a cedar colored mutt. With Misaki's skateboard in his mouth. As much as the nineteen-year-old was displeased with who was handling his skateboard, and how…at least Reina had the sense to send it back to him. With a slight growl and shuffling his feet, the youngest of the two began to walk after Tobi, and that's when hell began. Tobi got in a playing position and looked at Yata was a mischievous gleam in his mossy-green eyes. "Don't. You. Dare." Misaki growled, intending to intimidate the mutt, but that only riled him up more. With a sharp bark, Tobi darted off around the two and ahead.

Both men turned around, frozen as the mutt ran down the street like a bat out of hell. Kamamoto had his hand partially raised in a failed attempt to tell Tobi to stop. "Uh…" The other was steaming, and with a scowl on his face he punched his partner in the back of the neck, shouting at him.

"Don't just let him get the fuck away, dammit!" Yata roared.

* * *

**A/N:** Gah! I'm soo sorry my writing hasn't been up to snap; I've been battling the enemy of all writers; Writers Block. Oh, and the Blocker of Writers has been a worthy opponent, however…I don't like fighting it day after day. Also…I haven't been updating on time! I wanted to update on Valentine's Day with a lovey-dovey One-Shot that I've been working on…but Writers Block won that battle, and I wasn't finished with this chapter then…And then I wanted to update Friday or Saturday but I was without internet. Finally I can update this chapter! Just kill me now.

Anyway, Happy Late Valentine's Day! Did you have a Sweetheart this year? …I may or may not have had one…*Cough-cough.*

Like I said; this chapter, and the last, aren't up to my writing skills. I hate it. I'm sorry if you get lost somewhere in the fighting scene…I had a hard time writing it and ended up using repetitive words and moves…Again…I. Hated. It. Guh…

Onto my review replies;

**Miechan-ish**~Nya! I'm glad you liked the bonding! I was kinda nervous, it took me forever to write it. And- O.o Well then...*Cough-cough.* Well, about Rei and Mikoto...Hehehehe...You'll see...I have plans. *Evil grin.*

**Kyoichi Amaya**~ Glad you liked it, and your wait it over! *Sings.*

**Guest**~ In a way, I agree with you. Thank you for making your critic kindly, I really appreiciate it. Onto the subject of my OC, I understand what you mean about the killing, and I didn't want to put it in the way that she didn't care about it, and hopefully this chapter cleared it up a bit more. I plan to use character developement to bring out her more "inner" thoughts and emotions. And along the lines of my opening; I wanted to put in something that will relate to the beginnings of Rei's plot, so I decided with some sort of chase, and since I didn't know of any other Japanese gangs, nor did I have the patience to come up with one, so I went with the Yakuza...I agree, it is cliche...but...I'm not going to say I did my best, so...I put it bluntly; I was a tad bit lazy.

**Painted** **Notes**~ Gah! *Eyetwitch.* Milo read my fanfiction? He doesn't even know of the fandom!...Creepy...Tell him I said hi, as well. Thanks for the review, see ya'!

**Ergelina**~ Ha! I don't plan to stop updating. Glad you liked the story! And I'll be teasing the subject of Rei and Mikoto's relationship bit by bit just to torture you guys. Hehehe...Mwahahahahahaha!

**MaskedBeauty09**~ Glad you like the story so far, hope you like this chapter! And you no longer have to wait!

Well, that sums it up for today! If you liked what ya' saw or have something to help my writing skills; leave a review! And if you loved the story, then feel free to drop a favorite and if you really liked it; by all means click that follow button and stalk my story! :D Hopefully by the time I update my long and seemingly endless battle with the Blocker of Writing will come to successful conclusion and I will regain my place of being the lord of my muse and keyboard! But until then...

Ciao!

-Bartrice


	4. Burned

**Chapter Four**

**Burned**

Tobi waited eagerly at the door, mossy green eyes staring down the street longingly. Rei hadn't returned yet, and it was obvious that the mutt was worried. Though, the others didn't think much of it. Anna sat on the couch, staring at her hands and listening for any sign of her sister's return. The chatter in the bar was mere background noise, and the pale haired girl thought little of it. It had been five years since she'd seen her sister, and she had only seen her once before then. That was when she gave Anna up to her aunt. Rei was only seventeen when their mother died, and Anna was only six. There was no chance that Rei would be able to raise her sister, so she left her with her aunt. They never spoke to each other until now, and it seemed Rei acted as though they'd known each other for the longest time. However, the truth was, the two barely knew anything about each other. Anna knew Rei was an artist because her Aunt showed her so many of her pictures, and she knew she was pretty much raised into the Red Clan since she was ten, and Rei didn't even know her mother until she was fifteen years old. Before the Red Clan, Rei was raised off the streets.

Anna could remember the day she first met her older sister, and it was the night of the accident when their mother and Anna's father died. That was another thing about the sisters; they were only half-sisters. Rei didn't know who her father was and really couldn't care less, the only thing she ever seemed to care about is Anna and her safety. That's the reason why she left Anna to her aunt, so she could be safe. Then she was dragged into the world of the Clans, and that bothered her. Why wouldn't she be bothered, though? Anna is her only family. And she intended to keep it that way. Though, it was clear to Anna that in a way, Rei trusted Mikoto to take care of her whatever the costs. In return, he understood that.

Anna stared at the cluster of marbles in her hand and then turned her head sharply to look out the window to see Rei there, getting off a sporty-looking, black motorcycle. How'd she not hear her? It was obvious that she should've heard the engine. Ah, well. Anna watched as Rei looked up at the bar and sighed, giving the ground a worried look before collecting herself and putting on a bored expression. Leaving her bike parked on the street, Rei walked up the stairs and into the bar. Totsuka looked up from his place on the other couch and smiled.

"Rei-san!" He greeted, but she just ignored it and walked up the stairs with a slight wave of her hand.

"Night!" The albino muttered before disappearing up stairs with Tobi trailing her with a yip, leaving the others to continue their chatter. Anna stared at the stairway and sighed slightly, watching Rei's long hair leave her view. She then looked at Mikoto who was also staring in that direction. Without a word, Anna got up and walked across the bar and up the stairs, ignoring any questions thrown her way.

Anna was quick enough to catch her sister in the hallway, and instinctively she tugged on Rei's leather jacket, much like how she would to Mikoto to get his attention. Rei stopped mid-step and looked at her little sister, the misunderstood look of anger dimming from her ruby eyes as her mind registered it was her sister that dare to stop her. Tobi began to walk ahead of the two before he noticed and turned their way with a slight whimper. A small, weak half-smile made Rei's lips tilt slightly. She looked tired, and the smudges of soot on her person didn't help her battered appearance at all. Anna just stared up at her look-a-like sister, trying to read her expression. The eleven-year old had to resist the urge to reach into the pockets of her dress and use her marbles on her sister.

No words were exchanged between the two until Anna hugged her sister, not caring if Rei would be bothered. Closing her eyes Anna whispered something simple to her, but that something made everything else wither away in this world. "Thank you,"

* * *

Rei's expression was that of surprise, but as the words sank in another warm smile crept up on her face and in return she knelt down to Anna's size and hugged her little sister back, holding her tight and for a moment she regretted ever leaving her. She regretted not sharing any words with Anna before today. She regretted never knowing her sister existed until that night. Rei had to be wary of her emotions and held her breath to keep her pent up aggression and sorrow from leaving her.

Though, for the moment of holding her sister, she felt safe in a way. Which was funny, since Rei wanted to protect Anna, not the other way around. Still, she couldn't help but feel all the pain, anger, sorrow, and grief from all these years wither away, even if it was just for a moment. Rei sighed and closed her eyes before letting her sister go and standing up straight once again, regaining her confident look. She smiled down at her sister and nodded.

"Thank you," Rei retorted, which only made Anna's eyes widen a little in confusion, though Rei ignored the notion and chuckled. "It's late, shouldn't you be in bed? You may not be as tired as I am, but you still have to sleep." She didn't exactly know how to do this motherly stuff, but she did know that children need their sleep. Though, she didn't want to go full blown mother on her sister. That was Mikoto's job. With an agreeing nod from her sister, Rei bit her lip and nodded back in an awkward attempt to say goodnight to her little sister before continuing her walk down the hall. She snapped her fingers at her dog, but he didn't respond.

Instead, the mutt began to walk over to Anna without as much as a glance to Rei, and he sat by her side with a pathetic huff directed towards his master. Rei's eyes narrowed in a playful way and she smirked, blowing white locks from her face. "Traitor," She bit before once again nodded at her sister with a small smile and walking down the hall. Rei bit down on her lip and sighed before forcing herself into the formidable wreck of a room. Though, instead of growling in frustrated anger at the dull, white walls, she quickly reached into her pocket and pulled out two bandage rolls, then began removing her jacket and her shirt, leaving just her black tank-top on. Rei winced at the sigh on her arms. Maybe her wounds _did_ open.

Other than the bullet graze on her shoulder/bicep area, her arms consisted of several cuts and burns, a little dried blood here and there and a lot of fresh blood everywhere, not to mention the bruises. Rei hissed to herself, "Fuck," She said in a rather sharper tone than intended. Giving up on just replacing her former bandages, Rei decided to just take a damned shower. She needed one anyway.

Rei poked her head out of the door and made sure the coast was clear for her to sprint down the hallway and to the bathroom. Seeing the hallways empty, and made her attempt to slip through the door, quickly closing it with a faint _click_ and then quickly make her way down the hallway and slide into the bathroom, closing the door behind her as she leaned back with a sigh. She really didn't want anyone seeing her like this; all battered, bloody, and bruised. Not only would it downgrade on her current rep for being as tough as nails; it would cause such a clamor over such a small thing. Rei could take care of herself just perfectly.

Rei began unwrapping her only bandages and throwing them away, not looking at the deep cuts they once covered and the rigid texture of the skin around them. She slid her fingers over the fabric on her back and her jaw clenched at the touch of raw flesh. She decided it wasn't such a good idea to be tending to that just yet. Ah, well. The albino turned on the hot water in the sink and began rinsing off her hands and arms, chipping away at dried blood and being careful not to nick any sensitive spots in her wounds.

* * *

Mikoto's eyes narrowed as he watched a pair of legs dart past the stairway and down the other side of the hallway. His jaw clenched. Didn't she say she was going to bed? Well, not technically, but in subtext? The Red King sighed and closed his eyes, telling himself not to be paranoid, but he still couldn't help himself but to be curious. Though, he held himself down and continued to listen to the chatter among the bar as some of the Clansmen left one at a time, leaving only those who lived in the building and/or owned it. Kusanagi shut the bar down and began clean up any leftover messes while Totsuka helped, Yata had dismissed himself from the room to finally fall asleep. They all had a long day, what with Rei's unexpected appearance.

The redhead sighed and got up without a word and walked upstairs, turning to his left and then opening the second door. He paused in the door way and his eyes narrowed at the sight. He ignored the fact that Rei was nearly undressed, all his angered focus was on the many scars and gashes on her back complimented by ridged edges on her skin. She stopped midway of taking her shirt off and looked behind her, ruby eyes wide. Mikoto didn't see anything except for her bare back and battered person. The surprised looked on her face flared into anger and she dropped her shirt for it to loosely fall back in place on her torso. The Red King saw her jaw clenched and her fist ball up as flames flared up on her arms and around her legs.

"Out!" She screamed as loud as she could and Mikoto had to rush to close the door for any of her flames of rage and embarrassment to escape the bathroom. The Red King blinked a couple of times before huffing out a breath and running his hand through his crimson locks. Tired eyes darkened; he really didn't have to patience for that woman. Though, he knew someone who would. Mikoto tch'd and decided he'd get onto her another time before walking down the hallway and back into to bar.

"King?" Totsuka said, looking up from helping Kusanagi clean. Both veterans were alarmed off Rei's shriek, and the latter of the two seemed a bit on edge. He probably could tell that more than likely the albino had lit something on fire. "Is everything okay?" The dirty blond tilted his head, causing some of his messy hair to fall infront of his face.

"Reina-san needs help tending to her wounds," The King said bluntly, sitting back down on a bar stool, folding his arms over the counter and laying his head down.

"Wounds?" Totsuka mumbled questioningly, but waved it away with a thoughtful sigh. "Alright then, I'm guessing she's in the bathroom, hmm?" No response from the Red King. Totsuka took it as a yes and quickly exited the bar and went upstairs mumbling something about both the King and the newest Clansman. Mikoto grunted halfheartedly when his friend's voice faded away and closed his eyes, nearly giving into his sub-consciousness les the bartender to his left hadn't spoken up.

"Please tell me she didn't try to burn up the bathroom because you walked in on her…" The blond sighed with a frustrated and angry edge to his tone of voice. Mikoto turned his head slightly to peek at the veteran and scoffed, though it only looked like he shrugged his shoulders. Kusanagi's jaw clenched and the King realized he'd have to settle this with his own words instead of just trying to imply that yes, she did just try to burn the place down.

"Maybe. I'm sure she'll clean it up." The redhead sat up and stared blankly at the wall infront of him, half of his mindset elsewhere. "I didn't technically walk in on her; all I saw was her back and all those damn scars,"

Now Kusanagi looked really concerned as he straightened up from scrubbing down the bar counter. The blond pushed up his glasses to take a clearer look at his King and he smirked slightly. "Well, you seem a bit off edge about that, Mikoto-san," He said in a slightly teasing way, all his attention now on the redheaded King.

Irritated now, Mikoto stood up and began walking up the stairs. "Not in your wildest dreams," He muttered under his breath before disappearing from the bar.

* * *

Rei winced, her fists clenching tighter as Totsuka tugged on the bandages wrapped around her torso. It was awkward having him help her, but it sure as hell was better than her lame attempts at patching herself up. Within a little over half an hour, Totsuka helped clean and treat all her wounds and then even helped her wrap her torso in bandages to keep the many scars and cuts on her back from bleeding anymore or opening up. Her arms she could handle, the few wounds on her legs were fine, but her back was the main problem. And it was awkward for Rei to be completely topless infront of Totsuka, not that he saw anything. It was also hard to hold up all her alabaster locks with one hand while helping Totsuka wind the bandage roll around her chest and stomach with the other. Several times she had to resist the urge to yip in pain as her middle-school friend would tighten the bonds.

Let's just say it wasn't the most comfortable thing to have her breasts bound up like this.

Rei could barely breathe.

"Do you think you could make the bandages looser?" The albino wheezed, looking back and causing a bundle of hair to fall from her grip. She bit down on her lip, nearly letting all her pent up frustration out on that single bite, and growled. "Mother fucker…" Rei glared at the stands before using both hands to gather it all back together.

"Such foul language," Totsuka tsked and shook his head at her in a playful way before chuckling a little. "If you were uncomfortable, you should've just said so!"

Rei dead panned. _I've been uncomfortable ever since Hothead walked in on me._ The woman wasn't looking forward to having any type of encounters with her newest King, be it accidental or inevitable. She didn't want to be questioned by him; it was annoying enough to convince Totsuka not to talk about the many scars on her body that he hadn't noticed before when he first tended to her. It was going to be a pain in the ass if she had to explain to Mikoto, and more than likely he'd be persistent about it.

Totsuka lightly tugged tight the bandages again before taking a safety pin and pinning it all together. With a satisfied chuckle, the pacifist stepped to the side for Rei to retrieve her clothes. Though, instead she sat down on the toilet seat and began tearing at her jeans. She yanked on the denim and tore off most of what was once her favorite pair of jeans, creating shorts, and then grabbed her hoodie, only to frown to see the thin fabric with a large gash right up the side. She glared at in in dread of having to go shopping. "Great," She grumbled and threw the shirt aside, with a huff she elbowed her knee and rested her head on her fist, glaring at the floor. Rei wasn't much of a shopping girl. In fact, she hated it. The crowds, the prices, the judgmental employees. They all yanked her chain the wrong way.

Totsuka, on the other hand, had a different idea. The twenty-two-year-old chuckled and waved away her anger. "How about we go shopping tomorrow?" He didn't wait for Rei's protest. "Until then, I'll get a shirt for you to sleep in," And without another word, Totsuka slipped through the door way to get Rei something to sleep in. Again, she huffed an angered breath. Shopping was probably the stupidest idea in the world. All it ever did for Rei was just made her feel bad about her sense of style and the way she looked.

As if she wasn't bothered enough by the color of her hair. In all honest, she hated her hair; it was a dull color- white. Ever since she was little she believed this, even though others told her it was a pretty color, she'd accept their compliments but sooner or later forget about it. There was no way in hell she was going to dye it…all the stuff with hair dye scared the shit out of her. What if her hair ended up falling out?! Rei would rather have dull hair than no hair. Ah, well.

Now that Rei had time to herself, she took in the condition of the bathroom. Everything was the same except for the singe marks on the walls and doors, the burned up shower curtain and towels. She'd have to remind herself to buy new ones when she went shopping the next day just to keep Kusanagi-san from freaking out too much. If she had to, she'd even volunteer to repaint the walls…Maybe not. Knowing herself, she'd bill Izumo in a heartbeat if that were the case.

"Here we go!" Totsuka quipped as he quietly walked back into the bathroom, closing the door as silently as he could and breaking Rei's thoughts. It became clear to Rei that maybe the other Clansmen were asleep by now. She caught glimpse of a white blur and quickly caught the piece of fabric that Totsuka had tossed at her. Man, her attention span was lowering. She must really be tired. Rei looked at the white shirt and sighed, looking down at it like it was one of the biggest disappointments in her life. That was another thing about herself; she hated having to depend on people. Ever since Rei was little the albino was constantly trying to be independent. Such a thing was impossible until she met a certain person who told her to just fight back.

"I know it's not the best fit, but…it'll work," Once again, Tatara knocked Rei from her thoughts and she looked up at him, forcing a smile on her lips and she chuckled before throwing on the shirt. It held loosely on her torso and pooled at her waist, the wide V-neck fell at her shoulders and made part of the bandages visible. The white haired woman scowled at the sight, but accepted it none the less. She stood up and slightly bowed to Totsuka. Rei then noticed the shirt was a long-sleeve as the sleeves slipped from her biceps and hung off her hands an inch or two.

"Thanks…" She examined the large, long-sleeve shirt with a tilt of her head. "Whose is this exactly?"

Totsuka gave her a sheepish smile and shrugged. "Dunno, just found it in the dryer." Rei gave him a look, one of which he waved away with a slightly nervous laugh. "Don't worry! It's clean!"

"Thanks," She repeated, standing up and brushing past the blond to exit the bathroom, letting out a long yawn. "Going to bed…" The albino mumbled with tired eyes, her mind already shutting down for the day. She didn't hear any response from Totsuka as she walked down the hallway and back to her room. After entering, she closed her eyes, took two steps forward, and fell on the bed that stood side-by-side with the window, a soft comforter cushioning her fall. Alabaster strands of hair pooled around her upper body and she curled up, tugging the covers close to her as she peeked her eyes open to barely stare at the white walls. She turned her body, folding the covers over her person, and now stared at the window. The blinds were open and she could clearly see the city lights…and no stars. Light pollution was another thing she hated. How could she ever marvel at the silver beauty of the stars with light pollution?

Shizume City wasn't all that bad with light pollution; once in a blue moon, Rei could be lucky enough to see the dim lights of stars. However, they were few. Very few.

Rei reached out a pale hand and grabbed the line, tugging it so the blinds would slide down and cover the window, leaving the room dark and cold. If it weren't for the fine lines shown through the blinds, Rei wouldn't be able to tell if her eyes were closed or not. Though, after a while, Rei's ruby eyes began to droop and soon enough she left herself to her sub-consciousness once again. This time in hopes of gaining some real sleep.

* * *

_**Nightmare**_

_There was a quiet whispering noise; nothing more than background to Rei as she wondered about. Stumbling, she clutched her side and slid along the wall before attempting to walk right and failing once again. Blood smeared on the metal walls as the girl pressed on, breath heavy against the air that seemed thin. With each breath, another tight squeeze on her lungs greeted a series of coughs. This time, the violent shakes of her body caused her ankles to fail her and her knees to buckle. The albino slipped down fell on the hard concrete. The motion greeted a change of scenery. The ground was wet with rain and the wall against her back wasn't of cold metal, but now it was rough brick, wet from the rain that caused alabaster locks to cling to Rei's neck and face._

_Struggling to sit up, Rei leaned against the wall and pulled her knees to her chest, wrapping her arms around her legs. Laying across from her was a boy, black, short, messy hair scattered all over his face so she couldn't see who it was, but that didn't stop her memory from recognizing him. Blood pooled around the boy and touched the tips of Rei's bare feet. It was at this moment she realized she was trembling and the whispers go louder._

"_Monster! Murderer! Killer! Heartless!" They screamed at her and the dreaming personification of Rei cried out, covering her ears, closing her eyes tight and shaking her head violently as the horrible words were thrown her way._

"_I'm sorry…" Rei nearly mistook the voice for her own and opened her eyes to see if what she had once seen disappeared, only to find out the it had worsened. Rei was now on her knees, cradling the body of someone she had encountered quiet recently, shaking her body and sobbing as the girl in her arms whispered soft nothings to her._

"_I'm sorry…this is all my fault." The girl whispered and pulled out the familiar black bladed knife from her abdomen. Rei could feel the girl leave in her very arms. In a way, her body felt lighter and empty of the burden of carrying a soul. Her own voice was blocked out as Rei watched from her sub-consciousness. Her dream-self shook the girl's body over and over again, shouting blank words of regret._

_Once the scene changed only a little to see the metal walls once again. Enclosed, bloody and in pain, Rei's dream-self screamed, the noise echoing and engraving itself into the deepest corridors of her mind._

* * *

"No!" Rei cried out, jolting away and sitting up, the motion so sudden it caused her body to ache and she winced, clutching her abdomen where she was punched the previous day. Out of impulse, the woman coughed; careful not to be too loud as the recap of her surroundings registered clearly. After the tedious motion of hacking out something revolting, Rei pursed her lips, a bit paranoid that she may have woken up a few unhappy Clansmen of hers with her outcry. The albino waited for a few minutes to make sure that the building, or at least the hallways, were still silent and motionless. Then, she got up, walking aimlessly for the door. It took a couple moments for her eyes to adapt to the darkness around her and to find the doorknob, but it was a success none the less. As quietly as she could, Rei stepped out of her room and closed to door with a soft _click!_ Then she quickly and silently rushed down the hallway, remembering where she saw the shaft to the stairwell that would lead up to the roof and finding that same door quickly.

With more noise than intended, Rei opened the door and began a short walk up the stairs and to the roof top. The night wasn't as cold as she expected; either that or her body temperature was a complete match to the temperature outside. The latter probably wouldn't be a good sign of her health, but…oh, well. Still trembling a little, Rei made her way to a place on the roof top where she could see the city clearly, it's liveliness and bright lights somewhat comforting her. It was a reassurance that she wasn't alone in this world and she was once again in the plane of Reality.

Steadying her breath and her trembling, Rei took a deep breath, closing her eyes as she inhaled and opening them as she exhaled. "I fucking hate nightmares…" She growled, her eyes narrowing into a glare at the city. Her body tensed and her fists clenched only for a moment and then relaxed again as the albino took another deep breath. Soft gusts of wind calmed her nerves and her eyes drooped again as she stared at the bright city before her. She rolled her shoulders back, allowing long strands of white hair to fall infront of her, and Rei didn't even care to blow the inconvenience out of her face like she would usually do. The very faint, barely audible pit-pat, pit-pat sound from behind her made the albino tense up and she glared back behind her.

"Didn't you once say Nightmares can be mistaken for a recollection of memories?" Mikoto couldn't sound any less interested. Rei didn't want his presence to be true, but judging by his deep voice, his figure behind her, and the fiery aura burning and radiating from him proved it more than true. It was irritatingly true.

The woman tch'd and looked back at the city, ignoring her King with a scowl on her face. Though, despite her best efforts, her know-it-all side couldn't contain itself. "You're right," The words stung. "A nightmare is called a subconscious stage, but that's only a recollection of memories. A true nightmare is like a network. The Fourth Plane, to be exact," The knowledge of the Seven Planes was…confusing, but simple in Rei's eyes. Most of the time, though, she just discarded the knowledge. It was a part of her she never wanted. "But what are nightmares to you, King?" She taunted, sitting straight and looking back at her King who didn't make eye contact with her. Instead Suoh Mikoto stared at the city, hands in his pockets.

"Troublesome," The redhead stated bluntly with a grunt causing Rei to scoff at him and shake her head. She looked back at the city and closed her eyes, trying to forget Mikoto was even there in hopes that he'd just fade away. It only took another two minutes for the King to speak up again. "Is it because of nightmares you're awake at three o'clock in the morning?"

Rei didn't waver, but still didn't make eye contact with her King. Though, she was pretty sure he knew the right answer. "Insomnia. The shit works wonders," She grumbled and stood up, finally blowing the hair out of her face before brushing past her King. Before heading back down the shaft and to her bedroom, Rei turned around and curtsied, pulling at the large shirt as if it were a skirt and her hair fell over her shoulder as she bowed her head. Once again, the albino put on a completely girlish tone just to irritate her most hated friend. "Have a good evening, my dearest King," Rei couldn't help her giggle, and as quickly as it came out she pursed her lips and spun on her heel before rushing back to the door and down the shaft of stairs.

* * *

**A/N:** And there you have it…I wish I would've wrote something better now that my battle with writers block has subsided…I planned to write this chapter because I had an aching feeling that I'd still be lack-literate, but, nope! Ah well, next couple chapters will be hopefully full of comedic relief and more backstory on Reina… Just a little though; pour in too much then I'll probably spoil some future stuff.

Hope you liked the chapter and thanks for the reviews! :D I updated early because I felt kinda bad since my last two chapters weren't my best…hopefully I'll be updating early again sometime this weekend. Wanna know why? Snow days! *Squeal.* I practically a have a five day weekend that I can dedicate to writing and planning. EventhoughIreallyshoulddomyh omework,butohwell!

Seriously, though, don't be like me; a no-life that really should do her homework.

I'm rambling…ONTO THE REVIEW REPLIES! (Gasp! There's only two?!)

**MaskedBeauty09**~ The wait is over! Though…this is more filler than anything…ah, well. Teehee, once again I say: I'll be teasing that subject just to torture- I mean, entertain you guys. xD Thanks for the review, much appreciated.

**Miechan-ish**~ I did as soon as possible! Order up! We got a hot and ready update! Thanks for the review!

There ya' have it folks! Leave a review and I'll get back to you! Also, feel free to drop a follow and a favorite if ya' liked the story! I don't think I'll be taking down this story for a long while!

Ciao!

-Bartrice


	5. Shopping

**Chapter 5**

**Shopping**

_Thud._

Rei groaned when the bar counter bluntly made contact with her forehead, the cold, smooth wood soothing the pain shortly after. She wasn't always the morning person. Also, she wasn't very pleased about the window next to her bed letting light pour into her bedroom and the fact that Tobi, who was on the very opposite side of her opinion on mornings, wouldn't give the albino a moment's peace and sleep. With a long, deep breath, Rei closed her eyes and was about to drift back to sleep before more noise came into the picture.

"Ohayou, Rei-chan!" Totsuka said in sing-song way as we strolled downstairs. If it were someone else, Rei was sure she would've lunged at the man who dare disturb her sleep. Instead of lashing out, the albino just turned her head and glared through the mess of her hair that barely blocked her vision. Tobi let out a happy bark, leapt down from the couch, and ran up to Totsuka with his usual grin as he leapt up and down and continued barking at the blond. "Oh, well, good morning to you too, Tobi-san. Seems he's rather happy to see me, huh?" He chuckled and tried to pet the mutt to calm him down.

Rei ground her teeth together, watching Totsuka's feeble attempts to calm that damned dog. Every second, every bark, and every kind word that came from the situation made her more and more irritated. She could feel that this day wasn't going to turn out well. Though, very calmly, Reina stood up, sliding out of her seat and glared over at Tobi. "Oi!" She snapped. Both man and dog turned to look at her, though she was more trained on giving Tobi the worst stank eye she could muster. "Shut the hell up!" This time she screamed at the dog, causing the poor mutt to cringe back and whimper. "I mean seriously, there are people trying to sleep and your obnoxious yapping of your fucking jaws isn't helping worth a shit! Can't you be a nice, calm, little mutt, instead of an annoying jackass, for once?!"

"Such foul language…" Totsuka murmured from the side, though Rei just discarded any comments from anyone as she hounded the poor pup who seemed to shrink into a tiny puppy under all of Rei's morning rage.

"Damn, what a Hellcat." Yata growled as he stepped down the stairway. Rei cast a death glare over at the youngster and tch'd. "You think that mutt is waking up everyone? Look who's talkin'," A flash of silver passed by Yata's head and within a second's notice, a flick blade stuck into the hard wood frame of the stairway entrance.

"Who ya' callin' 'Hellcat', Short Fuse?" Rei growled lowly at the chestnut-haired boy, pulling him toe to toe with her by the collar of his shirt. Tension sparked up between them as the morning dawned on Rei. It really wasn't the best of times to mess with her. White locks spilled over her shoulder as she shook Yata in her grip, it was then she realized how short he was compared to herself. Rei knew he was short, but she didn't really expect to be a little over a head taller than him. Though, despite this realization, she didn't break her concentration, ruby and hazel eyes never left each other's glare.

"Keep up this 'Short Fuse' shit, and you'll just have to learn to deal with it, Hellcat," Yata barked into her face and then cast a glance at the silver knife that still stuck in the wood frame. He smirked devilishly, hazel eyes flashing with amusement. "What kind of a shot was that anyway, it was pathetic," Rei's grip on the blue and white neckline of Misaki's shirt tightened. She gnashed her teeth at the boy and shoved him back.

"Call my aim pathetic again, and maybe next time I won't be so merciless," She hissed grudgingly and took her place back on the bar stool, setting her head on her arm, not minding the mess of her hair that fell onto the bar counter. When the hell was Izumo going to open up the bar? Rei knew exactly what she needed and it was something strong and caffeine loaded. Though, it would be arguable to be drinking this early.

"What's up with her, anyway? She seems more off edge than yesterday," Yata murmured, glaring over at her as she tried once again to get some sleep. Totsuka chuckled and scratched the back of his neck.

"Eh, she's not really a morning person. Rei-chan has always been like that since we were in middle school. It explains a lot why she would only get to school around lunch hour, and if she was in school on time, she'd sneak off somewhere to catch some extra sleep." The blond waved away Rei intimidating radiation that burned off of her like smoke. "You really shouldn't take this all personally. Though, I'm kinda worried about what she'll do when King comes down. Especially now that she has her knives back. Also, about the nicknames…she'll come up with them now and then. Can you actually believe she used to call King Rainon-kun?"

"You mean as in lion?"

"Yup!"

"You look thirsty…" A voice said to Rei and she looked up at Izumo who now stood, wide awake at his side of the bar counter, setting things up to open up the bar. "I'll charge you, but you can have whatever you'd like," The blond offered with a slight smile. Now someone was speaking her language. Rei grimaced and sat up, rubbing her temples and giving a heavy sigh.

"Tea? Preferably Earl Grey." The albino requested and her ruby eyes glided over to the ensemble of alcohol. With a swift movement, a fairly pale hand lifted and pointed her index finger at one exact bottle. "And spice it up with that, will ya'?"

Izumo looked back at the bottle and one of his eyebrows shot up in question, a slightly puzzled look on his face. He was used to Rei asking for Earl Grey when she was younger and she'd stop by the bar now and then, but he forgot that Rei was now of drinking age. So to say, Izumo didn't really expect for the woman to request such a strong type of rum in her morning tea. Though, he obliged with a nod and began heating up water. Once again, Rei set her head down on the counter, this time a little softer than her first few attempts to get some sleep. It didn't take long for her to figure out how to tune out the rest of the clamor in the bar. She didn't even notice Short Fuse leave. Or the many statements Totsuka blabbered on about going up and down the main streets to hit some good stores to find Reina some new clothes.

Though, when she did notice them, she also noticed she was still in the shirt she slept in the night before. She still wondered who exactly the shirt belonged to. Ah, well. "It's a Saturday, though. More than likely those streets will be busy with a bunch of people going everywhere for the weekend and not to mention all the stupid little fifteen-year-olds who spend their time-wasting their life on shopping," Rei stated bluntly, receiving her spiked tea shortly after. She cupped her hands around the mug that Izumo gave her and blew on the boiling hot water, the scent of strong herbs and alcohol flaming as she did so.

"Hey, don't sweat it! It'll all work out," Totsuka waved away her negative words, though his usual saying made Rei's mood sullen as she began to sip her tea.

"For some reason, I have a bad feeling when you say that…"

* * *

"No," Rei protested without so much as a glance to the sun dress Totsuka was trying to show her. She could easily see the bright, yellow, blue, and white coloring from the corner of her eye. Even if she did wear dresses, she would never wear something so…bright. With a swift motion, Rei brushed back a white strand that fell from behind her ear and continued sifting through a rack of hoodies, while Totsuka let out a sigh and returned to the dress rack not far away.

"A woman of your age should really dress more festive and professional. You've been wearing hoodies and jeans ever since we were in middle school. Don't you think it's a bit old, now?" The blond pressed on about the matter.

"How does 'festive' and 'professional' go into the same sentence?" Izumo poked into the conversation from another part of the clothing's area of the thrift store.

"Professional is not festive," Said another voice, Chitose, a man, who Rei soon learned of his womanizer personality, that joined in on their trip to the stores along the main street nearby. "How's that?" He inquired towards the bartender who should have been at work, though…through hard convincing from Totsuka, joined in as well.

"How does 'Rei' and 'festive' go into the same conversation?" Asked a certain redhead.

"Try this on!" Rei hissed towards the King and threw whatever dress she grabbed first from the rack at him. "Try it on, while I go look for a pretty, little tiara to go with it, _King_." It was obvious she was still grumpy about the morning hours. Mikoto had caught the dress, though didn't really look at it until then. Actually, none of the Red Clan did until then. The dress wasn't technically a dress. It was a white-base spring kimono with many different vine and floral designs in different shades of red and orange. It had hints of pale greens and blues that blended into the main white color, and the sash was a deep green with more floral based designs in red and orange. Mikoto deadpanned at the sight of it, though that only made it harder for Rei to hold back her laughter. It became incredibly hard as Chitose started laughing, and Izumo couldn't hide his grin. Though, instead of just laughing, she tried to suppress her laughter even more, causing little giggles to bubble up from her throat and escape her lips.

"Well, that's ironic, isn't it? It's perfect for you!" Totsuka joined in on the joking.

"Alright, alright…cut it out, let's just get what we came here for, alright?" Izumo tried to calm the others down while Rei took a deep breath and continued looking through the clothes. With Izumo's rushing, Rei soon found a nice outfit.

"Can I purchase these clothes while wearing them after I try them on?" Rei asked the clerk, an old lady who seemed to have a knack for getting good sales and haggling. The grey haired woman stared at Rei for a long time, dark eyes scanning over her outfit made of torn jeans turned into shorts, the shirt she slept in, her favorite leather jacket, dog-tag necklaces and another significant necklace. The woman's eyes fell on that necklace and flashed, as though she expected to make a deal for the black, precious gem.

"That is a beautiful necklace, may I ask what the stone is? Is it onyx? Perhaps snowflake obsidian?" The saleswoman asked, cause Rei to instantly grasp the necklace, sliding her thumb over the smooth pendant.

"I actually don't know…someone from my childhood gave it to me as a very helpful gift,"

"Is it for sale?"

Rei's temper began to flare once more as she became rather defendant of the necklace. "No. Can I purchase these clothes while wearing them or not?" She bit back a growl, but still glared at the woman with piercing, ruby eyes. Once again the woman stared at her, long and hard, before nodding slowly. "Thank you," The albino grunted with a slight bow of her head, quickly retreating to the dressing room at the back of the store.

* * *

The small group of five soon left the thrift store and walked down the main street. It wasn't as busy as Rei would have expected, lunch hour must've been over or something. She couldn't help but feel awkward in her new outfit, she wasn't always one to wear shorts. In a way, the outfit was cute to the mainstream eye. Complete with tattered, dark jean shorts, dark, semi-transparent leggings, a sleeveless band shirt, her favorite jacket, and combat boots. "I think it's rather fitting, Rei-chan," Totsuka said with a nod of approval. "And you're not wearing a hoodie,"

"Hot Stuff is a bit noticeable," Mikoto grunted with a side glance at the albino. She turned around and faked a blush, waving her hand at him as if to wave away a compliment.

"Oh, stop it, you!" Rei giggled as though she were flattered by his words. She actually did believe his words were genuine. It was hard to tell whether he was being nice or not with such a dull and bored, low voice.

The Red King shot another glance at Rei, this time making eye contact and made an irritated grunt. "I meant your dagger," Amber eyes flicked to her thigh and then back at her ruby ones. The albino tch'd and cocked her head to the side. Why did she fall for that? As much as she had her ways of annoying him, he did too. It was one of the minor ways of how they fought, otherwise they'd be hitting the pavement by then. Rei didn't know what was holding her back from lunging at the King. Maybe it was because she hadn't seen him for long. It was weird, they used to fight almost on a daily basis, whenever it wasn't sparring and training with the Old Man.

"Oh…" Rei felt stupid with her act now and dropping it as soon as she noticed she looked like an idiot. She glanced down at her thigh and sighed, normally she didn't have to worry about the dagger too much, it somewhat blended with her dark jeans. But, now she was wearing shorts and leggings…Hot Stuff was rather noticeable. "What should I do with it?" For a moment she showed her true-self, a girl who was much like a clueless teenager. Although, her curious gaze faded and hardened into a glare at the King.

"We'll figure it out later, Rei-chan," Kusanagi imputed, leaning forward to catch Rei's glare. It was obvious he was trying to avoid a fight, which would be often met during situations like these. Mikoto would do something while Rei was off-guard, Rei would show her softer side, she'd get pissed, she'd throw some smart-ass comments towards the redhead, and then he'd get pissed and the two would begin to fight. It was a tiring cycle for the two of them and those around them. "Perhaps we could stop by a weapons shop? We could get you something new that can be easier to conceal." Rei's hand moved possessively over the knife and her jaw clenched.

"And I suppose you want me to just sell the dagger she gave me?" She said sharply at the bartender, ruby eyes narrow and protective. Kusanagi sighed and shrugged.

"We could mount it in your new room? Give it a more prideful place in HOMRA." He suggested and leaned against the wall, flicking out his sunglasses and slipping them on. Rei's hand twitched, she was hesitant as to whether or not she should mount up one of the most precious objects in her life.

"I'll think about it,"

* * *

"Welcome to Musi's Weaponry! How can I help you fellas?" A burly old man bellowed from behind a counter. Rei deadpanned and growled. She didn't want to have to think through her decision this soon. The albino shot a glance at Kusanagi who stood two people apart from her, waving at the guy behind the gun counter. She sighed and shook her head in disapproval before looking at the old man again, waving and instinctively putting on a small smile.

"Konichiwa!" She replied and then slowly, yet awkwardly, moved over to a counter filled with an assortment of knives, daggers, flick blades, and all the sorts. All of the sudden she was in her own world. Everything and everyone else disappeared. That is, until the shop owner came around.

"You favor blades, huh?" Rei's head jerked up to see a different man this time. She figured he came from the curtained door at the back of the room. He was middle-aged, yet looked wise all the same. It was weird to see a man wearing a kimono all the way in the city. A country man she could see, but not someone who owned a weapons shop in Shizume. Actually, she'd only seen a man wearing a kimono once. But that was a long time ago, and Rei wasn't even on public property. Her mistake. Rei examined the man, he was middle-aged, his long, black hair was in a low ponytail, and he seemed a man of skill.

"Yeah, sorta. I've been working with a bunch of flick blades, throwing knives, and this old switchblade I got a while back. I've never really had a sword or anything my weapon of choice, but I know the basics." Rei said, her tone professional and confident as she mentioned her pride in all life. The owner cast her a curious look and smiled.

"Interesting. You don't see many people working with old school tools, such as blades. My name is Natakai Musi, I own this shop." The man said with a smile, eyes closed.

"Pleased to meet you, I'm Sika Maikadu," She introduced herself in her alias. Didn't need anyone knowing exactly who she was, what with the Yakuza and maybe even the police chasing after her. Rei put her hands on her hips and looked at the many katanas behind the counter on mounts. "I favor blades because I can sharpen and clean them on my free-time, and practice without losing control. Though, I must say so myself, I'm more of a modern-type weapon person. Everything I have is of the latest design, except this…" She pulled out her switchblade and set it on the glass counter, not caring if Musi would ask her questions. Musi eyed the blade for a little while, and then looked at her.

He didn't ask anything. "May I?" He said, instead, gesturing towards the blade. Rei nodded and he went to work, picking the knife up and twirling it around, marveling at the etchings of flame on the blade itself. Hot Stuff was something to look at. It was custom made, and Ayuri, her mother, gave it to her for the first birthday they celebrated together. "My, this is quite a beautiful switchblade. Generally, they're just your average black handle, silver blade knife that you can do cool flip tricks with. This is quite a marvel," Black eyes found Hot Stuff's name etched into the leather handle. Musi chuckled. "Hot Stuff, what a charming name,"

"It's about nine years old, my mother gave it to me for my thirteenth birthday." Rei stated. "She had it custom-made and everything, but…I've been really needing to give it a more respectful place and getting a new switchblade. Something easily concealed and small. That I just put in this holster right here," She gestured to the holster strapped to her thigh. "But, as you can see, it's not well hidden at all,"

"Hmm…I could get you set up with a mount for this for a decent price, and about your new switchblade…" Musi knelt down to the cabinet below, unlocking it and looking over the several knives. "You say you want something concealable and small? And you like modern toys? I think I have the perfect thing for you, I just got it in last weekend." He picked something out and placed it on the counter. It looked a little like a large pocketknife, but the hook on it looked like something that you'd see on a switchblade for easy withdraw. "It's brand new, it's shaped like a pocket knife, but has the economics of a switchblade. Very stylish with the black blade and silver edge, very nice indeed. Try it out, see was you think," He handed the switchblade to her.

Rei held it in her hand, the handle seemed to give off a heat that lured her to it. She flicked out the blade and did a few hand tricks with it, and then threw it across the room, aiming for a spot that would make the blade whiz right past Chitose's head. The brunette looked started and had to think a moment to process what the hell had just tried to kill him. Then his eyes found the blade that stuck in the wall and then the albino girl across the room who stared at him, arms crossed with a smug look on her face.

"I think it's a keeper," Rei said to Musi, who just watched with wide eyes. He barely managed a shaky smile.

"I do hope that was a close friend," He muttered, though to his torture, she just shrugged. Rei walked across the room to retrieve the blade stuck in the wall, passing by Chitose with a sassy hair flip just to piss him off, then she came back to Musi's counter. "Should I ring this up for you? It came in a set, and for a sale I could give you three items from the set for…say fifty thousand yen?" Rei's jaw dropped.

"But, this is latest style and economics! These should be at least eighty thousand a piece!" She protested, gaping at the store owner with wide eyes.

"You seem like a respectable weapons owner, and I'd like to make a deal. What do you say?" He offered. Rei pursed her lips and she shook her head.

"Sorry, but I'm afraid I can't take that offer, I'll just take the one piece and be on my way, please," She said, crossing her arms. It kinda hurt to put away an offer like that. It was tempting, but she really didn't need a three-part set. "How much?"

* * *

**A/N:** Ah! Finally, so as you can see, this is mainly filler…the next one won't be as much since I'll be adding some backstory on Reina and Anna and Mikoto and Kusanagi and Totsuka and all that jazz. *Sigh.* It took me forever to write this chapter, and I really don't know why…maybe it's the Blocker of Writing creeping up on me. *Sharpens Rapier,* Oh, but we shall see if I can vanquish the beast once and for all let it show its ugly face. Teehee, moving on~

I'm very sorry for not updating lately! *Crying now.* I've been in a tight spot, what with me moving, not having internet, and my semi-finals at school a couple weeks ago. x.x It's been killer. But, I should be a little more active for the next couple weeks. Again, I'm very sorry for not being as active as I should. I hope I can make up for it! Moving on~

**REVIEW REPLIES!**

**WitchyCloudpine~** Yay! You reviewed! Teehee, I'm so glad you reviewed, I've been wanting for you to stumble upon my story for a while, since I really love your story, Red, and you're such a great writer. Anywho~ x3 Thank you so much for your feedback, and I'm glad you like my story! I really wanted to do something original, and I was hoping this would work out. So glad it did. x3 Thank you so much, I'm glad to hear that I'm doing well in my writing. Hopefully I'll keep up the good work. *Gives you Anna for a day.* You deserve this. 3

**Gothbear100~ **Thank you! And don't feel bad, I do that on a daily basis. Guilty is charged. Internet can be a black-hole to your life. xD So, don't feel bad. I'm glad you like my sister/sister bonding time, I hope I'm getting it all right. And the fact that Rei hates the color of her hair, that she claims to be white, will be a slightly significant part int he future plot- can't give out too much information. Gotta keep the viewers curious. x3 And it is indeed funny to see annoyed faces on generally emotionless-like people. Especially when it's Mikoto. Bwahaha. Thanks for the review, I hope to see more of you later in my review section!

**Miechan-ish~** Indeed, that is Reina's only purpose in life- to irritate the Red King. x3 I'm glad you enjoyed reading my fourth chapter, and I'm sorry that I didn't get you a hot and ready update so soon. Forgive me! *Sniffle.* Thank you for the review, and since you're such a faithful reviewer, here~ *Gives you a Fushimi plushie.* Take the troubled yangdere-like Monkey. I hope you like it.

**A/N:** Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Leave a review and I'll get back to you! Thank you so much for the reviews, they really do keep me going on this fanfiction. It's good to know that I have fans of this fanfiction. It really warms my heart. Thank you so much! *Gives cookies to everyone.* Love you!

Ciao!

~DreamColors


	6. Fighting

Chapter Six

Fighting

Rei's body crashed into a few trash cans, though she didn't make a noise. She flipped her body around and landed in a rough crouch, last night's dinner dirtying her boots. She glared at Mikoto who stood tall and calm across the street and snarled at him. Their fight was inevitable. "What the hell was that for?!"

"You hit me," The redhead shrugged with a dull glance at her.

"You pissed me off!" Before he knew it, she was already a foot away from him, getting ready to swing a right punch at him. The movement alarmed him, but he stayed calm on the outside as he instinctively grabbed her arm and pulled her around, twisting back behind her. Though before the lock could be complete, she twisted out of it and swung a round house at him.

"I knew this was going to happen one day or another…" Kusanagi stood not far from where the two fought in front of Bar HOMRA. He shook his head and sat down on the steps that lead up to the entrance, pulling out a cigarette pack and his lighter. He seemed pretty casual to the situation as his King and longtime friend went at each other's throats. Yatagerasu ran out of Bar HOMRA and stopped at Kusanagi's side, looking surprised that Clansman had turned on her King.

"Mikoto-san!" He gasped as Rei threw flick blades at Mikoto, though they were in the accurate places, he blocked them with his aura. The two clansmen could see her tense up at the sight of the King's barrier. Misaki was about to get into the fight, but Kusanagi stopped him.

"Don't worry about those two, they do this as a regular basis. Though, it's no telling when they'll be over. It can range from five minutes to five hours." He said.

Misaki gapped at the two and then Kusanagi. He never heard of such a thing, someone lasting that long against a King other than a higher ranking Clansman or another King. "Damn, that's some stamina,"

Kusanagi scoffed. He actually didn't know how this would turn out, the two haven't fought each other since they were in the same rank. It wasn't possible that Rei would win, but he didn't know how much damage Mikoto could do to her now that he was a King. "Yeah, back when they were just clansmen, they both equaled each other out in most ways. They both have an amazing amount of stamina and range of attacks, their reflexes are cat-like, and their speed is incredible. Though that's when the similarities stop. While Mikoto is strength base with a bunch of locks and kickboxing, Rei relies on quick attacks and getaways. She's strong, but not the strongest. Then again, there's no telling what training she went through during her deployment. It's a blind fight. Rei-chan uses instinct, which can be her advantage and downfall. Though, in most cases against the King, it's her downfall because she can get pretty repetitive and wear herself down to fast, that's when Mikoto's strategy working comes into play.

"Usually, when Rei-chan get's tired, she'll result to her aura in which she uses magic Circles, casting and such using the flame to design. It's a slow process, but they are lethal, so that's when Mikoto takes up the offensive and pins her. Game over." Kusanagi explained nonchalantly. Yata gaped at him even more, surprised that the bartender had Mikoto and Rei's battles all figured out without even having to watch the first one they had in five years.

"Shit, let me go, you bastard!" Rei snarled from across the street as she broke out of another lock that Mikoto attempted. She flipped backwards, but gasped as Mikoto's hand grabbed her ankle. This wasn't expected. Mikoto picked her off the ground and spun around before letting her go, once again throwing her across the street. Rei flew a great distance, but was able to land in a wide-stance crouch on the Bar HOMRA sigh. Both clansmen below could feel the rush of air that soon came after her. It seemed for a split moment everything was still as Rei stared down Mikoto, her breathing heavy. Before gravity could catch up to her, Rei kicked off the sign, chipping some paint with her boots. Mikoto moved out-of-the-way before Rei could land, so instead of landing in front of him, she landed behind him. That didn't stop her. She flipped back, intending to drop a kick on Mikoto, but he blocked it with his arms crossed and moved out of the wave again for Rei to get her placing back, this time facing her opponent. The two waited and Mikoto smirked, expecting Rei to get to her casting.

"No." She hissed sharply before flipping back, kicking her legs up to hit Mikoto on the jaw, though he dodged again. That's when Rei caved. With one free arm, her hand lit up with crimson flames, she quickly began designing a circle. It's edges for ragged and the inside was smoother, the inner most circle spiked and jagged. She stood back up, drew a blade from her pocket, and turned around, drawing back her arm and then throwing the knife. That's when she realized her target was way too close. "Shit!" She squealed as the knife made contact with the Circle.

Mikoto saw her mistake as well, and grabbed her arm, yanking her towards him and then jumping out the way of the cross fire. The circle created an explosion, though small, very deadly in close quarters. Kinda like a grenade. The two crashed down on the street, Rei's hair untangled from her braid during the fight and fell in a mess around herself. Rei untangled herself and rolled a few feet away from Mikoto before beginning to get up. The toll of the fight became more intense and she winced at the aches on her arms and abdomen. She glared at Mikoto through white locks. The King got up and ran his hand through his hair, sighing in an irritated way and shooting a glance at Rei that said, "You idiot."

"Baka…" He tch'd and shook his head at her. Rei tensed up and stood.

"What?!"

"You're reckless and foolish, even since we were kids I've had to save your ass,"

_Chink!_

A glint of silver past by Mikoto's head and Rei's new weapon, the switchblade knife that she could conceal in the sleeve of her leather jacket, stuck it's place deep in a crack of the concrete behind Mikoto. Rei had a spiteful glare at the King, her shoulders went up and down as she breathed heavily. "Say that again and maybe fate won't let me miss," She growled, cleaning herself up and walking past him to get her knife. Though, his arm stopped her mid-walk.

Rei didn't dare meet his amber gaze, and she bit back a snarl at him. Ruby eyes stared hardly at the concrete and white locks fell from her ear to cover the side of her face. "You never miss, Rei-chan," The message didn't seem like much, but it hit Rei like a slap in the face. She just scowled and yanked her arm free, continuing on retrieving her knife and then returning to Bar HOMRA, passing by Misaki and Kusanagi without a word as she gathered her alabaster hair and began braiding it back together.

* * *

Another white strand fell needlessly out of the braid, Reina groaned her exhaustion and fell back on her pillow, getting restless of making a perfect braid. She had one before, and then that damned Hothead had to get her blood boiling. Tobi looked up at her, ears perked as the albino fell back. The bark furred mutt was curled on the end of her bed, looking relaxed until then. Mossy eyes bore into her ruby ones when she looked up at him, she just chuckled and ruffled the fur on top of his head between his folded ears. "What?" She snapped playfully at the mutt. Tobi's smile returned to his maw and he barked right back at her before getting up and pinning her on the bed, licking her to death.

"Stop it, dammit! Stop!" Rei couldn't help but laugh as the mutt toyed with her. She felt like a child, bursting with giggles and fits.

_Why do you fight when you can laugh?_

"What?" The voice in her mind alarmed her and she stopped her laughter and she held the mutt still in her grasp, her eyes narrow and analyzing. A crazy thought haunted her mind.

"Why do you fight when you can laugh?" Another voice said, and Rei turned her head to meet a similar ruby gaze. Anna's tendency not to be heard as she came and went as she pleased was going to drive Rei insane. Her nerves calmed and she sighed, a chuckle escaping her parted lips. Anna stood about a foot away from Rei's bed, her bangs slightly covering the tops of her eyes.

"Hmph," The eldest sister grunted and lightly pushed Tobi off of her. "Your bangs are getting long, I can cut them for you if you want," Anna looked solemn as she nodded and climbed up on Rei's bed. She crossed her legs underneath her dress and looked up at her sister who sat up and crossed her legs as well. It was scary, the resemblance between the two. Anna looked exactly like Rei when she was eight. It was strange having a Strain as a sister, it meant that her development would come slower than usual. It why she looked like she was eight instead of eleven. Five years ago she looked like a three-year-old. It was scary.

"Why do people fight?" Anna asked again as Rei began to brush at her white locks, looking at different styles it could be put into. She wasn't really one to always worry about style, but she found herself preoccupied while playing with Anna's hair.

Rei sighed and her shoulders sagged. "Well, it's complicated. People fight to protect the ones they love, their principles, themselves. They fight for survival and the endurance of their people." She explained and motioned for her little sister to turn around, and then continued as she did so. "Then there are those who just want to watch the world burn,"

Anna sat in silence for a long time as Rei folded and weaved long strands of white, Tobi laid at the end of the bed, watching the two sisters with his head on his paws. Rei swallowed hard and stopped fiddling with her sister's hair, her hand twitched a little before she continued. "What do you protect when you fight?" Rei took a deep breath at her sister's persistent questioning.

"I fight for survival and to protect myself and my principles. I try to protect those I love…" She blinked a couple of times and her lips formed a hard-line. "But, one can only try," She said with a shrug and let go of Anna's hair. "I think just a nice trim to even out your bangs and get rid of those split ends will do just fine," Anna turned around and looked around the room at what art Rei had started. It was nothing simple, just a base color and then she began of the design on one wall.

"What are you going to paint?" She asked with a small voice, her ruby eyes once again falling on her elder sister.

Rei grimaced and looked around. "I dunno…if you want, I could paint something you want on one wall," She bore a smile at the idea, and Anna did in return. Or, something that looked like a smile. The only way Rei could tell it was a smile was the small glimmer in her eyes. It was the glimmer of when she used her marbles to see the colors; curiosity and wondering. A sort of excitement.

"A rose?"

Rei chuckled at the suggestion. "If that's what you want," She said in between her little bubbles of laughter. The corners of Anna's lips turned up and Rei couldn't help herself. "Oh, you're just too cute!" The eldest sister quipped and wrapped her arms around the small girl, both girls falling back on the bed. There they lay as Rei's heart began to calm and her conscience began to fade.

"It's okay if you're not warm, Onee-sama," Anna whispered to her and curled up, falling asleep as well.

**(A/N: I just love writing these scenes! *Huggles Anna.* So kawaii!)**

* * *

"What do you think? Pretty cute, huh?" Reina placed her hands on her hips with a smirk as she looked down on her sister, tapping the silver pair of scissors on her thigh. Anna fumbled in her hair, looking up as if she were trying to see for herself what she looked like. Fujishima, Eric, and Yata were in the bar as well as the three others, Mikoto, Totsuka, and Kusanagi. They all looked at Anna with tilted heads, Yata looked somewhat confused.

"I don't get it, what did you do?" The chestnut-haired punk asked, lifting an eyebrow in inquiry. Rei frowned and snipped her scissors at him.

"I trimmed off an inch to get those split ends, shorted her bangs a little, and did some work to make her feel a little more comfortable," Rei said matter-of-factly, once again gathering herself and placing her hands on her hips, staring down Yata with menacing, ruby eyes. "Ya' don't like it?" She didn't give him time to answer. "Too fucking bad,"

Anna continued fondling with her hair, shaking her head around to let strands of alabaster fly wildly around her. "It feels lighter," She mumbled and smiled a little. Rei turned around with a satisfied smile. It warmed her heart that she managed to do something good for once. She 'hmphed' and ruffled the little girl's hair.

"Ya' like? It's a trick I do with myself; keeps things lighter so you can move easier and be quicker. And, it keeps your hair long,"

Kusanagi scoffed and shook his head. "Why would a proper lady like Anna need to be quick and have to move easier?" The bartender inquired with a gesture to the 'proper lady.' Rei crossed her arms and her eyebrows shot up in question at the blond.

She bit on her cheek and ticked her tongue. "Are you saying I'm not a proper lady, Izzy-kun?" Kusanagi flinched at the ice in her tone that threatened a blade in his trachea. Rei waited for an answer that would never come.

Yata scoffed and stirred the drink in his cup with his straw. "Izzy-kun?" The young man couldn't hold back his laughter.

Mikoto grunted and glanced at the bartender and the albino from the corner of his eye. "I think he means a girl who does not fight and thus doesn't need to be constantly moving," He grumbled, glaring at Rei with a scowl. Amber eyes were spiteful. "Unlike you,"

Rei tensed up and flicked her knife out of her sleeve. "You're really begging for it, aren't you, King?"

"_Pitbull," _Eric said from his spot on the couch across the Bar. Rei shot him a glance, her tension disappearing and turning into confusion. The albino could speak English, though she wasn't fluent in it. Either way, she could have sworn a pitbull was a type of dog. A very aggressive dog, at that. "You're like a pitbull; you want to be a protector, sometimes even normal, but it's in your blood to be aggressive,"

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?!" Yata snapped from a bar stool across the room, his temper flaming like grease on a fryer. Rei had half way zoned out, not wanting to be confronted by Eric's words. How could he have read her that easily?

"_Shut up, Chihuahua, I wasn't talking to you," _Eric mumbled in English at Yata, whose temper only flared more. Fujishima cast a worried glance at the two and sighed.

"I think we should go before you get into trouble…" He murmured to his friend, pushing himself off the wall he leaned upon. Eric glanced up at him and then behind him at the horizon where the sun had long already set. "It's getting late anyway; my parents are going to have a cow if we don't get back soon. C'mon," The redhead tugged at Eric who slowly, but surely, stood up and waved at the others alongside his friend. The two left without another word, the rest of the Red Clan murmuring their goodbyes.

Totsuka lifted his blanket off himself and turned around from his place on the couch he would nap on, looking at Anna with a sweet smile. "I think she looks adorable. Rei-chan," He said and got up, brushing his blanket off him as he did so, He crossed the room and began fondling with Anna's hair. "You did a great job, I never knew you had a way with styling hair,"

Rei shrugged and put down the scissors, sitting down limply in a stool. "Eh, I'm only good at cleaning up. Remember that time when that chick tried cutting my hair eight years back in class? She didn't succeed, but she still butchered it pretty well. So, I had to learn how to clean it up without looking like I lost five inches of hair," She chuckled lightly and ran her hand through her hair. It wouldn't be long before she would have to trim up as well.

"Oh, yeah! I remember! And you didn't even do anything, just glared at her and then chased her into the bathroom," Totsuka chuckled and spun in his seat.

Rei nodded her agreement. "I didn't even hit the bitch, she just ran. When I cornered her in the bathroom, she sang like a canary; that's how I learned about all those rumors about me,"

"Remember those rumors about you and King?"

"Shit, man. Those made me want to vomit! There was also a rumor about Izzy-kun being homosexual."

"P-Pardon?!" Kusanagi gasped, nearly dropping one of his glasses.

"Yeah…I may helped spread it, but it didn't really last…"

Mikoto had zoned out on their conversation about the past, thoughts trailing elsewhere. Sorta. His mind had wandered onto the fact that Rei wasn't as violent as she used to be. Maybe it was Anna, she always did seem to be a lot calmer around her little sister. He still didn't forgive her for leaving her, though. Back then, Mikoto didn't know Anna existed either, it seemed that their mother, Ayuri, and Anna's father, Tetsuya, did a god job of keeping her secret, what with her being a strain. Then when Ayuri died, Rei was completely numb and Anna was left to her. She couldn't handle it, so she just dumped her at her aunts about a few days after their mother's death. Then a year later, Anna's aunt had dumped her on Mikoto. He couldn't help but feel a little pissed that Rei just abandoned her like that so soon after their mother and her father's death. The feel of rejection she must've felt would have been awful after being left alone to complete strangers almost.

But that's how people are when they have a young strain on their hands; they either shelter them from the world, or abandon them forever. Ayuri Kushina was a Clansman though, she wouldn't dare leave Anna unless she had no power against it because in a way, the two understood each other. They were both different from the world. Though, Rei, she was a Clansman as well back then; so what stopped her from doing the same thing as her mother? That's what Mikoto didn't understand. However, that's not all that pissed him off about her.

When she left five years ago, no one knew other than the former Red King. Just one night, she left Anna to her aunt and left to the Yakuza for an undercover job for info to give the Old Man. It was right before her mother's funeral as well. That girl was just irresponsible, reckless, stupid, and sometimes selfish. He hated it. Though, something in him had a will to watch her back ever since they met when they were in grade-school. She was only eight back then, and he was ten. Back then, she was just a stupid girl that didn't know how to protect herself. She was constantly bullied because she looked weird. They exchanged a few words, then the next day she came a started a fight and he didn't see her until she in middle school.

He didn't recognize her, but she remembered him clearly. Then from there on, their relationship was a rollercoaster, she also introduced Totsuka to him when the two were fourteen. Man, that boy was clingy. Ah, well. Mikoto had to admit, without Totsuka, he didn't know where he would be. Maybe six feet under.

"You think too much," Anna muttered to him, bringing the King out of his thoughts. Amber eyes flicked to the small, silver-haired girl. She watched him, marble in hand, her head tilted with alabaster locks sliding off her shoulder. "It's okay, I'm fine now. Onee-sama is here, and so are you. I'm fine." She said to him in that small voice. Mikoto scoffed, it sucked not being able to tell if she was lying or not. His gaze flicked over to the clock on the telephone and then back to her.

"Go to bed, it's nine," Mikoto said, nudging her arm in the direction of the stairway. She nodded and hopped off her seat, walking to the stairwell. Rei looked up from her conversation and found her little sister leaving.

"Oi!" She said her way, Anna looked up at her elder sister. "Where ya' goin'?" She asked, tilting her head a little.

"Mikoto always makes sure she gets to bed by nine," Totsuka quipped with a slight smile. Rei's ruby eyes flicked over to the King and then to Anna, who still stood mid-walk. She chuckled and let a small smile sneak up on her.

"If that's what mother hen does, then okay. Night, kiddo," The eldest Kushina grimaced and waved at her sister, feeling a little awkward as she did so. It was moments like these she didn't understand, sometimes she'd be the best sister in the world, and then the next second she'd feel awkward just being around her little sister. Strange… Maybe it was because she was trying too hard. Anna waved back and the others said their goodnights and waved as she went upstairs. Rei couldn't help but feel a little bad, what with her goodnight being a bit spiteful.

"So, how 'bout it?" Yata's voice broke into Reina's thoughts and she looked up, alarmed and caught off guard. Everyone, other than the King, was staring at her.

"Huh?" Rei muttered, her eyes wide open, trying to read anything off of the HOMRA boys' expressions.

"An arm-wrestle, just you and me, Hellcat." Yata challenged with a chuckle, sitting down on the bar stool to Rei's right.

The albino smirked and put her arm on the counter, her elbow making a faint thud on the hard wood surface. "You're on, Short-Fuse," She grunted and the punk just grinned maliciously as the two grabbed each other's hands. "1…2…3!" Their arms didn't move at all. Not even a jolt or trembling in their forearms. It looked like they weren't even doing anything. But both Clansmen were putting all their strength into the challenge. Hazel and ruby eyes locked together, not wavering or showing any type of amazement or fear. Nothing but determination.

"Did they start?" Totsuka asked, leaning over the counter to watch. Kusanagi just stood there, arms crossed, eyebrows raised. He didn't expect Rei to be as strong or stronger than Yata. Not at all.

* * *

It was a little less than an hour before Yata had caved in and let Rei beat him. After that, they had a few conversations, some drinks, then everyone soon went to bed. Mikoto was the first to go, though he didn't know why. Most of the time he just laid there and stared at the ceiling. Thinking. He'd start to drift off, but soon found himself wide awake again. Thank whoever that it wasn't nightmares that kept him up.

The King tensed as light from the hallway spread on the wall across from his bed, the door was opening. Though, he relaxed when he saw Anna's small figure sneak into his room. He didn't know why he tensed up when she came in, the child did this almost every night, leaving the night Rei first stayed here as an exception since Tobi slept with her. Anna quietly moved over from the door, shutting it lightly, and to Mikoto's bed and climbed on, crawling over to his side and sitting up. She knew he was awake.

"There a reason you're not asleep and it's one in the morning?" He asked, though he didn't receive an answer. She just fell on her side and curled up next to him. Mikoto noticed that much like her elder sister, Anna was quiet cold. He guessed it was genetic instead of something just singled out the cold-hearted woman.

"What do you protect when you fight?" Anna's small voice kept him out of slumber. Mikoto cast a glance at her, but she wasn't looking at him, more rather just staring off into space.

The King took a deep breath and stared at the ceiling. What did he fight for? "The things I can't live without,"

* * *

**A/N: **Alrighty! I decided to get this chapter up as soon as possible, and I did! Hope this makes up for my adbense over the last couple weeks! Most of the knowledge on here, regarding Ayuri Kushina, may or may not be correct, it's just my speculation. I haven't read "K Side: RED" yet, considering I can't find a translated version, so whether Ayuri was a Clansman or not in the canon, I do not know. I just went on the wiki to find Anna's parents names so that way I wasn't stuck with saying "Their mother" or "Anna's father." ALSO, in case you were confused, Anna and Reina are HALF sisters, they have the same mummy, but not the same daddy. Just to clear things up~

Gosh my PoV's were all over the place in this chapter! Sorry for any confusion during the chapter! D;

Considering I'm rushing myself and I don't have alot of reviews for chapter five, I'm going to be skipping the review replies and transfer the review replies for chapter five over to my review replies for chapter six. Hope that's okay. Either way, thanks for the reviews, they are MUCH appreciated and they keep my motivation juices goin'

Leave a review and I'll get back to you! Thank you!

Ciao!

~Dreamcolors


	7. Puppy

_For my dearest friends; I hope I can have you guys at my side forever. _

**Chapter Seven**

**Puppy**

A boy walked in the streets, hands behind his head. Cedar-colored hair blew softly in the faint breeze in Shizume, and mossy eyes danced as the scents of many different types of food filled his mind. The boy was young, perhaps he was about fourteen. He wore a dark, murky green tank top with a thin, white casual, dress-like jacket, and some jeans. It was nothing special, though, he didn't wear any shoes. God forbid he wears shoes. The boy hated them, they were a nuisance and someone once told him if something bothered him, then just don't do it.

Greens eyes flicked over to a new scent, chicken katsu. The boy noticed how his stomach growled lowly. He watched the steam rise from the meal inside a Styrofoam to-go box. He didn't have any money to spend. Though, he did have a few tricks up his sleeve. The boy grinned a dog-like grin, mossy eyes gleaming maliciously before he fake yawned, running his hand through cedar-colored hair.

* * *

"Alright, Shohei, you're batting!" Yata called from his spot at the pitching base. Rei watched the baseball game from her place in a nearby tree, her legs dangled off her branch and she was barely on the damn thing to feel comfortable. Shohei walked up to home base, bat in hand, and got into place. It's been a week since she rejoined the Red Clan, but that was the first time she joined HOMRA, and she had no idea of the weekly baseball games they have on Saturdays. Rei didn't feel like playing, though, baseball was too much of a simple-minded game for her. It just bored her. Dull, ruby eyes watched as she plopped her head on her fist.

"This is boring…" She mumbled and looked around. Her gaze fell on a…rather messy looking mutt. Tobi was walking to her tree with sauce covering the fur on top of his head, rice stuck in some places and a whole bunch of chicken katsu in his mouth. "What the fuck…?" Rei said, eyeing the mutt with wide eyes. She leapt down from her tree and crouched low to look at the pup. "What the hell did you do?"

Tobi didn't look ashamed or didn't give an answer, instead he dropped his chicken and showed her that doggy grin again. Rei just shook her head and chuckled. Stupid mutt. "You stole this didn't you?" She asked, and the mutt's mossy eyes just gleamed maliciously. "Nice goin', mutt," The albino chuckled and raised her hand to give a high-five. Tobi responded by raising his paw and sliding it on her hand, he continued to grin. Rei tussled the dry part of his fur on his head and began to pull out something from her back pocket. "Here, I got you something while you were wondering off." She pulled out a black, leather color. It was simple and the charm on it was a bullet and the tag had Tobi's name on it, Rei's name, and some other information. "So when you get lost, someone can take you back. Unless the bastards try to steal you,"

She adjusted it around Tobi's neck, playing with his cedar fur as she did so. When she was finished, the mutt just stared at her and shook his head, causing all the sauce to fly off of him. Rei instinctively cringed, but still laughed, luckily nothing got on her. "Damn mutt," She hummed and continued petting Tobi.

"Hey! Hey you! That dog's a demon! Get away from it!" A rusty, male voice called from across the field. Some of the players on the field looked over to see a burly looking man running towards Rei. An eyebrow shot up and she stood up, crossing her arms. Tobi's ears lay flat on his skull and he hid behind Rei's legs. The fat man caught up to the two and huffed for air. "That…That…That dog is not a dog…It's a demon! I saw it with my own eyes!"

"Um, sir, did you have too much alcohol? It's only eleven PM, that's not very good of you to be drinking this early," Rei advised him, looking down on him as he gasped for air. She bit on her cheek, confused of what this man meant. He looked like a vendor, and reeked of grease.

"Speak for yourself, Hellcat. You drink spiked tea every-" Yatagerasu began from behind Rei. It seemed that the whole team was gathering around this freak show.

"Now's not the time," Rei cut Yata off without so much as a glance at the boy. "What do you mean my dog's a demon?" She barked at the vendor, who finally caught his breath. Her eyes were narrow and serious, and she put her hand in front of Tobi defensively.

The man pointed at the mutt, causing him to cringe back. "He was a boy! A young, handsome looking boy and then he fell on my stand and poof! He was a beast! It's a demon, I tell you! You have to believe me!"

"Old man, you're starting to piss me off." Rei growled through clenched teeth. How in the hell was she going to believe that bullshit? Though something in the back of her mind had a sliver of belief. For what reason, she would never know. The three musketeers, Mikoto, Kusanagi, and Totsuka, pushed their way through the small crowd to get the full on the situation. Anna followed shortly after, standing close to Mikoto. The small girl held a marble in her hand and held it up to her eye.

"He's not lying…" She muttered and turned on the dog, her eyes then widened. "He's gone," Everyone then turned on Rei, though they weren't looking at her, more so the place where Tobi used to be. The cedar-furred mutt was gone, nowhere to be seen. Rei's blood turned ice-cold.

"Shit!" Rei hissed, beginning to run off to the curb where she left her bike.

"I'm calling the cops!" The vendor cried and began to pull out his cell. Rei quickly turned around and round housed the man, he fell and dropped his phone. She stopped on the phone and continued running toward her bike. Good thing her hair was still in its short ponytail. She grabbed her helmet and scooped up her hair from her shoulder and pulled it on, she didn't mind the imbalanced pressure on her jaw from the unevenly placed helmet. She was too focused on finding that fucking mutt. The albino sat in the seat and leaned forward, the engine revved and purred under her chest, and Rei was about to kick up the stand before someone grabbed her shoulder.

"The city's huge…You won't be able to find him that way," Totsuka's voice didn't help calm Rei's nerves at all. Her jaw clenched and her grip on the handles of her motorcycle tightened before she very roughly, turned off the engine and yanked out her keys. Totsuka just warily smiled and patted her shoulder. "Anna can try to track him, it'll be easier that way,"

"What the hell is going on, Totsuka-san?!" Rei barked at her longtime friend. Totsuka didn't flinch, though his eyes did widen a bit. "How did we not see this before? Anna or King should've detected if he was different! That man has to be lying, right?" The fact that she didn't know why she was so shaken by this made her more confused and thus then more pissed. She just didn't understand anything. Everything was…just a shock. She didn't want to believe anything.

Totsuka just smiled warily at her and huffed. "Hey, don't sweat it. It'll all work out. Just head to the Bar and we'll figure this out, okay?" He assured her, though Rei still wasn't convinced. It took a little while for his words to sink in and for her nerves to calm…a little. She sighed, blinking a couple of times before looking up at the blond. She nodded.

"Yeah, fine. Whatever." She mumbled and put her key back in, starting the engine right after. She adjusted herself in her seat and moved her helmet around a little to get more comfortable. Over the week she got a new helmet too, it wasn't a black old cap. This one was a head helmet with cat ears on top, it was all black too. She didn't know why she got it, though she did have some money to spend with those hacked accounts of the Yakuza. She'd also have to be careful of being out public, what with that small group going after her probably. Rei didn't think much of it. "I'll meet you at the bar," She mumbled carelessly over her shoulder before kicking the stand up and driving off.

* * *

"Alright, what can Anna-chan do to help track down Tobi?" Reina's voice was sharp and serious as she entered Bar HOMRA. She tossed her leather jacket on the couch after placing her helmet on the side table. Anna sat on her knees on the couch, looking down at a map of Shizume City, her marbles rolled on the map is different swirls and turns. The girl looked intent on the map, and Rei could feel all the energy in Anna was directed towards that map. It was obvious her sister's powers advanced over the years, before she could barely read Rei's mind. Totsuka sat beside the white-haired eleven-year-old, Kusanagi stood behind the bar counter, Mikoto took his regular seat at the bar, Chitose and Dewa were there as well, standing around and watching.

"Anna has a way of tracking down certain Auras. Not just Colored Auras, but any supernatural or psychic Aura. If Tobi is what we think he is, she has a chance of detecting him." Kusanagi explained, his voice strained as though he were very weary and tired. Rei's eyes narrowly stared down the blond. She still dare not believe it.

"And what exactly do we think he is?" She asked sharply, her tone cold and blunt. "You can't expect to believe he's a Strain? If that were the case, King or Anna-chan would've detected his natural psychic Aura."

"His ability could be as a shield, his ability to transform into a mutt could be a survival tactic, and maybe he has an ability to hide his natural Aura to avoid being detected as a Strain." The bartender guessed with a slight shrug. It was as if he'd been suspecting her companion all this time. The one thing Rei couldn't get a grip on, is why he wouldn't tell her. The mutt was constantly smiling, without a care in the world, for the past four years. All this time, he's been hiding. Not even Rei could keep up an act that long. "Not all abilities last forever. Perhaps his shield goes down when he's asleep. That would explain why Mikoto-san and Anna-chan wouldn't have detected anything, because they were asleep."

Rei put her hands on her hips and nodded her agreement. "That would explain a lot, but still…even if we do find him, what'll we do?" She asked, ruby eyes directing her question to her King. Mikoto's amber eyes flicked over at her, and his shoulders rose and fell in a sigh.

"Strains are the responsibility of the Blues, I don't need any trouble." He said simply in that low voice of his. Rei resisted the urge to flinch at his words. He would seriously consider handing over Tobi to Scepter 4? She would expect him to just kick the poor thing to the curb, but not openly say he'd rather hand him over to the Blues! It was to her understanding, that the Red and Blue Clans were…nearly sworn enemies.

"How about we discuss it when we have him?" Rei suggested sternly, glowering at the King with a defendant air around her. She would not abandon her dog, even if he wasn't exactly a dog. The two stared at each other long and hard, as if stuck in a mental discussion. Mikoto finally saw that there was no getting by with this pale-haired woman and sighed, looking away with a lazy shrug. All of the sudden he seemed more interested in his glass of water than the case at hand. Reina just 'hmphed' her pride and looked back at her sister. "Where are the others?"

Totsuka looked up with a slight turn up on his lips. "Yata-chan and Rikio-san stayed at the park to look around that area, Fujishima-san and Eric-chan had to go home, and Shohei-san and Bandou-san are staying at stand by around the city for when Anna-chan finds something," The blond explained, patting the eleven-year-old's head. Anna didn't seem to notice the motion, she was too focused on her marbles as they rolled and circled on the map. Rei sighed in a slight relief. It was good to know someone was on the street looking for the ball of fur.

"So, what? Are we just gonna have to wait until night? We've got about five hours until the sun starts to set." Said the albino as she looked out the window, her expression distant and worrisome. It was an aching feeling, knowing that somewhere, the stupid mutt was hiding himself and the secrets he carried. Her mind was still processing the words that man said. That dog is not a dog! It's a demon! She hadn't taken the words demon seriously like that since she was little, and that was about real demons. Though, never mind that. Rei didn't like thinking about the past too much. This demon was actually- er, probably a Strain. Reina looked back at the others, feeling like she missed a word or two while deep in her thoughts. They didn't seem to be waiting for any response from her, so instead of saying anything, the twenty-two-year-old let out a long, deep breath and leaned against the wall, not bothering with her bands that fell infront of her eyes and slightly curved to touch the tip of her bottom lip, even though normally she would blow it out of her face. She generally did that when she didn't want others to read her expressions or bother her. Not even the best actors can keep up an act forever.

* * *

It was around ten when Rei's Bluetooth started ringing in her ear. The albino was riding around on her bike near the main food district, the slight chill of the autumn night settled briefly on her body as wind whipped by. She clicked a button on the device held on her ear and from it, flipped a microphone close to her lower jaw. Her expression stayed content, concentrated, and calm as she spoke into the phone. "Hey, did Anna-chan get anything?" Rei didn't need to know who was on the phone, she already knew it was probably Totsuka, Kusanagi, or one of the other HOMRA boys.

"Yeah, he's around the Takanomi area, I'm sending you directions now," Kusanagi's voice, while a bit electronic, was clear through Rei's ear piece. She nodded, more to herself than the bartender and waited for a moment for a hologram map to beam in front of her from a small projector built-in the microphone extension. The image was transparent so she could keep an eye on the road for any drunk drivers. White brows furrowed and frowned, and her lips formed a hard line as she stared down a marked spot on the map of Shizume City. "Did you get the map?"

"Yeah, but…Kusanagi-san? What is he doing in the slums?" Rei really didn't understand why that mutt would be there. As far as she knew, Tobi had no history in the slums. Though, only knowing him for about three years, she wouldn't be surprised if he did have something to do with the place, considering how long he looked at the area upon being close to its crossing from the main city.

"Hmm, I don't know, really. Anna-chan said his aura is a bit…sad and scared, it'd be best to get there as soon as possible. I've got some of our boys that are closer to that area goin' over there." The upper Clansman said through the phone. Reina's senses threw up like hellfire and she quickly responded with a sharp tone.

"No! Call of your boys, I want to see him by myself,"

"Rei-chan, Tobi's all the way on the other side of the city from where you are,"

"I wouldn't give a damn if he's on the other side of the world, I'm going after that dumbass of a mutt," The albino protested vulgarly against that blond. She heard a few noises that rose and fell as failed attempts to stop the girl before Kusanagi just sighed in surrender. It was obvious to the both of them that having Rei approach Tobi would be a safer idea, there was no telling what the mongrel would do if a near stranger came up to the poor thing and tried to drag him back to the Bar.

"Alright, alright, calm down. Go on, Rei-chan, do what you have to do. But get back home before people start to worry," Kusanagi said with a breath. His words hit Rei like a slap in the face. Home and worry weren't very common thoughts when it came to HOMRA. She didn't really think about how close she's gotten to everyone. Hell, she was even having a better relationship with Hothead. All of it was too foreign to her, but it felt right. Rei was just happy to be with the one family she knew and cared for. Her sister. She would do anything to make up for abandoning her. That day…when she left, Rei just couldn't handle herself, she didn't know what to do with a little sister she had no idea about. Now, here she was going all the way across the damn city to talk to a dog.

"God I sound crazy…" She murmured and went back to talking with Kusanagi. "Yeah, yeah, I'll be there soon enough. Don't worry," Rei grumbled and clicked the same button as before, causing the call to end without proper farewells. The microphone piece flipped back into its place on the main part. "Alright, Tobi, time to drag your ass back home," The albino said, resting her hand on the handles of her bike and then quickly leaning one way, as well as turning the wheels causing her to go in a one-eighty turn so she could start going eastbound instead of west, where she would go deeper into the city.

* * *

Rei was looking at the map one more time before flicking off her headset and then staring at the rundown buildings in front of her. God, how much she hated the slums. Now, here she was, looking for probably the stupidest creature on earth right there. In the slums. The alabaster-haired woman groaned and leaned back in her seat before removing herself from her bike. It was at the moment that she once again realized her helmet was gone, followed by her explanation of the fact that she was in so much of a hassle to forget it at the Bar. Ah, well.

"Tobi?!" She called towards the building, only to receive no answer. Even though it was naturally pitch black in the area of the slums, Rei didn't have much of a hard time seeing the line of old, rundown shops and apartments in front of her, split by a slim alleyway. She didn't need her eyes to know that it might rain soon, the cool, damp air just confirmed her thoughts. The woman decided to call out her dog's name one last time before groaning again and making her way towards the alleyway. "Shit, I really don't like alleyways…"

As she walked down the narrow gutter, she slid her hand on the brick wall to her right, her hand grazing over moss, mold, busted stone, and water as droplets began to fall down. Now she was really aggravated. Rei held a dark and irritated expression as she left the narrow way and into a larger alleyway. Many of the buildings here were turned to rubble and shambles with boarded up windows. Or at least what was left of them. Rei grumbled something about how the government should just rebuild the area and moved on to peek about the buildings around her.

"Tobi?" She called out again before peering into one last building. Rei was about to give up when she heard a slight whimper in another building not far. While the noise was foreign, its tone was unforgettable. Quickly, Rei rushed over to the other building and pushed a large wood plank out of the doorway. The building was about to fall, ashes of its wooden frame dusted the rubble of the fallen ceiling, every speck of the place was charred from a past fire. As Rei walked through whatever flooring wasn't covered by rubble, plumes of ash and dust curled from under her boots. The air reeked of smoke, complimented by a clearer and cleaner scent of rain. She peered through the darkness and her lips parted, inhaling a bit of the soot left in the air that fell from what was left of the floor above her. "Tobi, you there?"

There was another whimper, and then a very low growl. It wasn't like for the damn mutt to growl at her that way. "Why…why did you come? You're not gonna kill me are you? Take me to some lab to sell me off?" The voice was that of a young boy, filled with anger and fear. At least he was awake. Maybe he woke when he heard Rei calling for him. Though, her relief for finding Tobi didn't falter her confusion at the aggressive tone he held and the words he spoke.

"What are you talking about?" Rei's voice was shaky, she had no idea what Tobi was capable of with his Strain abilities, and she really didn't want to get a taste of it. "All I want is to find out what the hell is going on. Are you…are you really a Strain?"

"Heh," The voice scoffed and there was a glint of those night-vision eyes that most wild animals had. "I wouldn't be talking if I wasn't…would I? You didn't answer me. Why did you come? I'm a freak." Rei finally approached the boy, he sat Indian style on the dirty ground, mossy eyes staring dully at the picture in his hand. The boy didn't look no more than two years older than Anna, his hair was messy and straight in luster, brown like dark cedar. He was a bit sun tanned, not too much to hide his fair complexion or his freckles across his face. The boy's features were…well, boyish despite having a few cuts and scrapes here and there, not to mention a bruise on his arm. He wore a thin, white, collared jacket with sleeves that only reached his bicep over a dark, green top, some jeans, and no shoes what so ever. Around his neck was that black, leather collar, fitted loose enough not to cause discomfort, but tight enough to not fall of his head if he were to do a handstand. Rei looked over at him and frowned.

"You should realize who the hell you're telling you're a freak to. I'm an albino, Tobi, you think I know what it means to be a freak?" _Not to mention the fact that I can practically control fire_, Rei wanted to add but didn't out of courtesy. Tobi let out a low growl at her, flashing dog-like canines at her as his grip on the picture in his hands tightened.

"_You_ shouldn't even be talking, Rei-sama! You've always had family. Mother…she left me in the slums to die! It's all because I'm a freak!" The boy yelled out, his voice strained and angry. Rei didn't even realize he was crying what with all the rain falling into the building. Tobi finally turned to her, throwing the picture aside in the dust. The picture was off a small baby, fair complexion and with freckles, his hair a dark, cedar brown, in the arms of his mother, a sweet looking woman with blond hair and green eyes, both looked happy together. "Why the hell did you come?!"

"I came to bring you home, dammit!" Rei shouted at him, still facing the wall in front of her, ruby eyes strong and defendant. She lifted her hand and pressed fist against the cold stone wall. "I don't give a shit if you're a freak. I didn't even really care if you were a Strain or not. I just don't want anyone dying on me anymore! I don't care what your past is like, or why your Mother abandoned you. We have a partnership, Tobi, and I'm not just going to break my promises. You've got my back, I've got yours. Got it?" She wasn't shouting anymore, though she spoke through clenched teeth. In all honesty, all she wanted was to make sure that damn mutt was okay and to bring him home. They were partners. She didn't want that to change anytime. "So, forget about this place…" The albino turned to the boy, his expression was that of surprise with his eyes wide and lips parted in a silent gasp. "You have a new family. Did you know we had all of our best guys going around the city looking for your ass? Anna-chan helped too. She worked hard to pin point you. So you better thank her, alright?"

Tobi stared, wide-eyed at the albino as she spoke, though he didn't seem convinced. He looked back at the ground and opened his mouth to say more. "But, what if-" The boy was cut off by Rei's groan of tire and the yank on his wrist as she grabbed his hand and began pulling him through the building. He could barely see her face, but he could see the determined and slightly pissed off and guarded look in her eyes. He never knew this side of her, even if he did, he only saw it a couple of times. He's seen her at her most desperate and weakest states, as well as her grief-filled moments, but he never saw her this determined to keep someone close, to protect them. Tobi knew that she wanted to protect Anna no matter what because she told him that, she wanted to make up for the five years that she left her. Even if it meant her life. Though, he never thought that she wanted to protect someone else other than Anna. They weren't just partners. Rei thought of him as someone she couldn't abandon like she did Anna five years ago, and Tobi thought of her like the mother he never had.

"Just shut up, I'm taking you home," Rei snapped, her tone sharp and nothing much like a mother. Oh, well. It was close. The two were by the street, and the albino let go of Tobi's wrist to hop onto her bike, she zipped up her leather jacket and left the collar popped, she tucked in her alabaster hair and turned her ruby gaze at the boy. A thin, white eyebrow rose in question at Tobi as he just stood there like an idiot. No wonder they called him "damn mutt." Tobi quickly nodded and ran up, hopping on the bike and holding on tight to Rei's jacket as she sped off down the street.

* * *

A/N: I dunno why I keep updating late…I'M SORRY! Aaaannnd once again, my PoVs are ALL over the place. Yay!

So, I hope this chapter is pleasing to you guys, I'm not exactly sure how ya'll will take the sub-plot twist. The point I wanted to get across is that Reina, despite being spiteful, wants to die protecting the people she can't imagine dying on her. Tobi, who was abandoned as a child by his mother, looks up at Rei as a mother figure now, and, much like a puppy, will follow her everywhere. The next few chapters will mostly be about their bond as partners and exactly how protective Rei can be. If you remember last chapter, in Mikoto's PoV, there was a mention about how people would treat their children if they were Strains. In Anna's case, her mother and father were very protective and sheltered her. In Tobi's case, he was left for dead in the slums. So…think on that contrast for a moment…

Ya done? Pfft- I'm an idiot, I know. xD Anyway, I have no idea where I was going with that. I hope I do well with developing Tobi over the next couple chapters, I really do look forward to writing a more upbeat character. I like contrasts in characters. It's like…*Arm wriggle.* I dunno…

**ONTO REVIEW REPLIES!**

**Guest~** Thank you! I'm glad you liked it, I hope you can follow along later! ^^

**MaskedBeauty09~** Thank you, so much! ^^ I'm glad I got the detail right, I was really hoping I did well on it. ^^ Here's the update! I hope you enjoyed it.

**Miechan-ish~** Eee! I'm glad you liked the Fushimi plushie! Hurrhurr.

Anyway~ I wanna ask you a question, and I really do want you guys opinion on this, what do you all think of a prequel-like fanfiction that will tell about Rei's past. It'll be about ten to fifteen chapters at the most and it'll basically cover the biggest points in Rei's past, since I really do want to tell you more about Reina, but I don't want to take up a lot of time writing a butt ton of flashbacks. I'll try not to be so…reveling about the future plot, I don't think it will, however. So, comment below, let me know!

Wait- sorry, wrong website…Leave a review and I'll surely get back to you! Thank you so much for taking the time to leave a review, it really does help to keep me goin' and I enjoy replying to you guys. I'm glad you guys like my story, and I try to improve on characterization and my writing skills, so I hope it's improving and really, you guys can only be the judge of that. I don't notice much change in my style much, but I hope it's good! Thanks for reading and I'll see you guys next chapter.

Ciao!

~DreamColors


	8. Dog

**Chapter Eight**

**Dog**

"So, where ya' from?"

"How come you didn't tell us you were a Strain?"

"How old are you?"

"Did you have a different name before Rei-chan named you Tobi?"

"What abilities do you have?"

The HOMRA boys pressed on questions to the poor, cedar-haired boy who sat very close to the albino woman on the couch. Rei watched him with narrow eyes, her gaze flicking over to the others that hurled questions at him now and then. She was toying with her switchblade, twirling it in her hand with several flick-tricks. Tobi looked rather uncomfortable, and probably would have felt more so if Rei wasn't there to throw threats now and then at those who asked too many questions. Tobi didn't really much answer the questions as they were cast his way, he didn't have to time to with the speed that everyone was going. Finally Rei had enough of their questions.

"Alright, that's enough. Five million freaking questions at a time. Shit." She hissed at the group that gathered around the set in the bar. They all shot her nasty glares, ones that she only returned in full before they all just stood back and shut up. Tobi looked a little more comfortable and let out a frustrated breath before shaking his head, letting water splatter everywhere. Rei cringed a little before relaxing once again and shaking her head shamelessly at the mutt.

"Well, actually, I was born more towards the mountain area and lived there for about two years before my mother moved here and…well…" Tobi's mossy gaze drifted off, but he soon returned to his optimistic self. "I didn't want to tell you guys I was a Strain because of what happened a long time ago…I'm fourteen. My real name before Rei named me was Nomurda Toshiyuki, but Tobi seems more fitting…" The boy chuckled slightly, scratching the back of his head as he did so. _Toshiyuki…_Thought Rei as she stared at the boy. _Clever and happy. What a fitting name._ "I guess my abilities are…like a shield. I can change my form into a dog as a sort of defense and then I have this way of blocking out my Strain aura so that way people like Scepter 4 with advanced tracking devices don't find me."

"Ha!" Kusanagi barked from behind the bar counter. "I knew it! Pay up, Yata-chan!" The blond cast a haughty look over at Yatagerasu who flinched at his words before reaching into his pocket and pulling out some money.

"Oi, oi, calm down, jeeze…" The nineteen-year-old grumbled, moving his way over the counter to slap the money down. Kusanagi gave the boy a smug look before taking the money and continuing his care of the bar. Rei never thought of a time when Kusanagi didn't have a reason to work on that precious bar of his. Rei just grunted at the two and leaned back, a small breath escaping her lips. She cast a glance over at Mikoto, who didn't seem to bother with the situation at hand. She couldn't help but still wonder what was on his mind about Tobi. If that redhead dared to try to hand him over to the Blues…

"Oi!" Rei snapped over all the conversation in the room, her voice directed at her King. Mikoto seemed more interested in his drink, however, causing the albino to get even more irritated with him. "So, what's your plan? Are you still gonna hand over Tobi to the Blues?"

"What?" Tobi looked up, Rei could've sworn she saw little ears on the boy's head perk up. Mikoto glanced over at the two and sighed, not giving her a response. Rei bit her lip, hard, and stared down the red-head, eyes like ruby-tinted daggers. Her hand twitched and for a moment it closed into a tight fist. How tempted she was to punch her own King across the jaw. "Look," Tobi stared at Mikoto with an earnest and sincere expression. "I know I've been a bit troubling lately, but I promise I'll better myself. I don't ask to be a part of your Clan, just let me be by Mama-sempai's side. She's all I have right now."

"Mama-sempai?" Several of the HOMRA boys went into silent, laughing fits. Rei sent dark glares their way and most of them shut up. Most.

Mikoto looked at the boy, eyes narrow. He made a quick glance at Rei and then back at Tobi again before the King spoke. "If she really cared about you, Rei would acknowledge the fact that you would have more under the care of Scepter 4. If she really wanted to protect you, she'd keep you out of a gang." Once again, amber eyes caught the gaze of ruby ones. That was it.

"How the hell do you know that those damn Blues will actually take care of Tobi? Those bastards will keep him under lock and key. You think that's protection?" Rei spat at the man, her body tensing up and burning with the urge to just send a dagger his way.

"Since when did you ever take responsibility, Rei-chan? I don't even understand why you'd protect him and not your own sister. I'm surprised you haven't just decided to up and vanish again without telling anyone."

"Shut the fuck up!" Rei snarled. "You think you know everything now that you're King, huh? You've acted like a smartass ever since the Old Man took you under his wing! You should've heard him when we trained without you. 'You're weak and childish, why can't you be more like Suoh-kun? You really expect to beat him with those skills?' Even when I left that night, he compared me to you! 'If you were anything like Suoh-kun, you could've saved them,' That's what he told me!" The albino was standing now, shouting across the otherwise silent bar.

Mikoto kept pushing her buttons, and Rei couldn't tell if he did it for enjoyment or what. "So that's what it is? You're protecting him because you're jealous of me protecting Anna?" Rei didn't say anything, she flicked her wrist and let her knife fall out of her sleeve and land neatly in her palm, the blade was already blazed over red-pink flames.

"No! That's not it!" Tobi shouted standing in front of Rei and blocking her line of aim at her King. "I know that I'll probably be in better condition with Scepter 4, rather than a gang, but I want to be with Mama-sempai. I'm Mama-sempai's dog, and I want to be loyal to her no matter what. I'd follow her straight into hell because I owe my life to her." The flames on Rei's body began to flicker out and disappear, her eyes relaxed and she gaped at the cedar-haired boy as he stared directly at her King. The redhead stared at him with dull eyes, but Rei could see the spark of surprise and interest deep in those amber irises. With a surrendering huff, she flicked the switchblade back into her sleeve and sat back down, looking the other way and turning her cheek from this complication. It wasn't her place to be deciding where Tobi would go, nor was it Mikoto's. It was entirely Tobi's decision.

Mikoto let a small smirk crease his lips and he scoffed at the boy. "Hmph, you really are a dog. Loyal." He said and started back again into taking interest with his drink. Tobi looked as though he couldn't tell if that was a compliment or an insult, but left the argument at that, and so did Rei. She was just wanted to forget that it ever happened.

* * *

"Hey,"

Tobi was just going to bed when a familiar voice stopped him in the hall. Mossy eyes trained the wall as he turned and they fell on Totsuka who greeted him with a nice smile like always. Tobi returned the gesture and stopped his somewhat-aimless walking. "Oh, hi Totsuka-sempai! Is there something you needed to talk to me about?"

Totsuka had his hands in his pockets, and he turned leaning back a bit to hover in front of the left-side wall. "Hmm, I just wanted to thank you for stopping that fight. It was getting too personal for those two to handle." Said the blond as he stared up at the wall, he shot a friendly glance at Tobi before chuckling. "Those two have been at each other's throats ever since Mikoto joined the Red Clan back when Rei was about fourteen."

"Yeah, about that…" Tobi stalled and his expression got hard as he dazed slightly into thought. "I never got the whole story about why that is, she told me they've known each other ever since grade school, so there had to have been something that happened between them, right?"

Totsuka's smile went very grim, but remained none the less and his expression softened. "Well, when I became friends with Rei, she used to tell me a lot. Back when Rei-chan was in third grade, that'd make King in fifth grade, they had a very brief meeting, and somehow Rei just completely trusted him and heeded some advice he gave her, then she had to leave that school and was on her own. Around age ten she joined the Red Clan for training under the former Red King, and for a while he treated her like she was his own daughter and sent her to school, that's when they met again. King didn't really remember her, but she remembered him and…in a way, she forced him to be her best friend. They'd always hang out together even though he was two grades higher than her, eventually Kusanagi came into the picture and they were all friends, so she got them into the Red Clan. The Red King took an interest in Mikoto-san and started to train him, favored him and started to just look down on Rei, he saw something in Mikoto that wasn't in her. I saw it too…

"Even though Rei's very skilled and advanced in her Aura magic, she lacked restraint and the will to protect others. Soon she was made the Clan's assassin, and she'd only take jobs that were men only, she wouldn't kill women or children. But while that was happening, Mikoto was getting special training and treatment from the King, and the King often sent people to supervise Rei, sometimes it was Mikoto. For a while, she didn't mind it, but it got too personal and she started hating him. By that time I had already befriended her, Mikoto-san, and Kusanagi-san, and I was pretty close with them. She admitted that she knew there was something different about Mikoto, she sensed it, but not as strongly as the King and I had. Mikoto had the subconscious intention to protect the things he can't live without, in other words, his friends. Rei was convinced it was a strength that King had, so she'd challenge him almost every day until she left.

"Now, she's a lot calmer, believe it or not. I don't know what it is, but I feel like Mikoto-san and Rei-chan are becoming friends again." Totsuka chuckled and shook his head. "I say that, and Rei-chan just almost tried to kill King," Again another pause of laughter. "Not that she'd ever get to, King's way above her level now, no matter how much she trains, she'll never be able to catch up with him now,"

Tobi chuckled and folded his arms behind his head, leaning back with a big doggy grin on his face. "I dunno, Rei may have her problems, but I think if she really wanted to, she could beat him." The thought came to a weird comprehension, but Tobi saw through Rei's acts. He was one of the few that could. Totsuka shot the boy a confused glance- no, more of a _"you crazy?"_ look.

"So you're saying Rei doesn't want to beat King?" Totsuka chuckled, as though he thought the boy was joking. Though, in all reality, he wasn't.

"Yup." Totsuka shot Tobi another look and it was his turn to listen. "Why do you think she was made a Clansman again? She pissed off the wrong person. I think, she used to hate him, and now she can't take back that hatred, so she only fuels it to keep close to him. That's the only way they can probably be friends for a little while." The Shield Strain had a good point. Even though Totsuka had his moments of seeing past Rei's acts, he couldn't read her as easily as Tobi would. Guess dogs really do make good listeners.

"Huh," Totsuka huffed with a grin. "I never thought of it that way…" The blond shook his head, mainly at himself and then began to stroll on back towards the stairwell. "Well then, it was a nice chat, Tobi-kun. Rest well!" He waved back at the mutt-turned-human before disappearing in the dark of the hallway. Tobi waved right back and then walked again, this time aiming for Rei's room.

The black painted door creaked as Tobi pushed it open, the cedar-haired boy peeked into the room and looked to his right where Rei's bed would be pushed up against a window and into a corner. There she sat with a laptop in front of her, dressed in an oversized, black t-shirt and boxer shorts, long, damp, alabaster locks draped over her shoulder and pooled into her lap. Ruby eyes concentrated squarely on the bright screen as she tapped away at the keys in fierce motions. Rei didn't seem to notice Tobi had entered- that or she didn't really care. The whole room was dark and the only light was the city lights from the window and her laptop. Quietly, as though he were sneaking, Tobi slipped into the room and closed to the door behind him. Afterward, he formed into a mutt and walked over to the bed, his claws tapping on the wood floors. He leapt onto the bed and curled at its foot, closing his eyes to go to sleep.

"Oi! No!" Rei snapped with a harsh swat at the mutt. Tobi yelped and turned back into a human, rubbing his head that now seemed to ache thanks to Reina's uncalled for strike. The little boy stared at the albino, waiting for her to say something, and she just stared right back. "Look, I know you used to sleep in my bed before, but that was before I knew you were a human…I dunno where you'll sleep until I find some sort of bed or something for you, but…"

"Are you kicking me off your bed?! You didn't have a problem with me sleeping here before!" Tobi barked in a whimper-ish like way.

"That was before I knew you were somewhat human…"

"Does that make a difference?!"

"Yes, it does! Please, just sleep on the floor or something…"

"I can't believe this…"

* * *

_Pit-pat. Pit-pat._

Rei stepped down the stairs and into the bar, bare footed and with only her boxer shorts and a band t-shirt. With drowsy eyes, the albino somewhat stumbled to walk into the bar's back room and grab a drink. She didn't feel like waiting for Izumo to get her a drink. The wood floor beneath her feet was cool, the air was…neither cold nor warm. Something in between. The white haired Clansman walked back into the bar and she stood in one place, staring at that damn mutt that passed out on the couch. She scoffed at the boy as he slept. Sun lit up his hair to make it more of a golden-brown color than the dark cedar it really was. Rei's eyes focused on the setting outside her sanctuary, it was a bit foggy on the streets, cars drove on by now and then with the occasional biker or such.

Quietly, Rei stepped back into the back of the bar and over to the washer and dryer, on her way she picked up a small bag of fish crackers and tried to open them, Unfortunately, she had trouble with the package and tried to tear it open with her teeth, but still she had no luck. While tearing into the bag, and with both hands busy, the albino used her foot to messily open the dryer door. She bent down to look through the clothes and spotted someone's sweat pants, once again she had to use her foot to drag it out before she finally gave up on the bag and then slipped the pants on over her boxer shorts. She left with her bag and went back into the main part of the bar, lazily throwing the pack at Tobi who didn't seem to notice a bag of fishy smelling crackers on his face. That kid was out of it.

The albino grabbed her jacket and slipped it on, though before walking outside, she spotted her Kings jacket and a sly grin grew on her lips. Rei dug her hand into the right pocket and grabbed a pack of cigarettes. "Thanks for the cigs, Raion-kun…" She purred before slipping out the door. He wouldn't miss them. Rei could've sworn she felt another pack in his pocket anyway. The door closed with the jingle of door bells muffled by thick wood and glass.

As she walked down the side-walk, Rei flipped open the pack out cigarettes and bit down on the last one remaining. She tossed away the empty package and waved her hand over the cigarette in her mouth, a small flame flicked from her palm and lit it up, and she then shoved both of her hands in her jacket and continued walking. Ruby irises moved up to look at the cloudy sky. _Well this is depressing_. She thought and sighed, exhaling smoke from her first drag.

She was probably a half a mile away fifteen minutes later when she heard a large crash down an alleyway. Rei's brow furrowed as she stared down the trashy looking place, it looked like a place where drunkards would go to be found by police and dragged to the hospital for evaluation. The concrete darkened in the middle were mildew grew and years of rain drained out to. What she heard was probably a dog or a cat, but Rei couldn't help her curiosity despite her bad luck with alleyways. Without much of a second thought, Rei turned and walked down the alleyway and mentally told herself that it was a short-cut of sorts. _A short cut to where, exactly?_ Asked a little tiny voice in her head that the albino ignored. A little while later Rei came up to a brick wall. Dead end.

"Looks like we finally got you, Snowy Locks." A familiar, male voice grunted from behind her and Rei tensed up. Her hands shifted in her pockets, looking for her daggers but they weren't there. She had forgotten them on her bed after cleaning them. _Shit_.

"We been lookin' for ya', sweetheart. Heard you was on the other side of town last night. Kinda got to me how we missed ya', I was lookin' forward to seein' your pretty face." Another voice chuckled. "Our boss is really mad at you. But you know all about that, don't you, sweetheart?"

Rei couldn't run. Even if she could, she wouldn't. She turned around to face the two men. "Tell me, what happened when your guys didn't retrieve the codes? I bet your boss's higher-ups were really pissed, huh?" Ruby eyes landed on the first man, the one who had called her Snowy Locks, he was ugly and a bit pudgy. Saggy brown eyes looked at her mockingly, and the man's black hair fell in front of his face. "Betou," Rei shifted her gaze to the other man that insisted on calling her sweetheart. His features were sharp and nothing back skin and bone, but she knew how strong how was and how deadly. Long, light brown hair rested on the man's shoulders messily. "and Noguka. Tegashi's personal lap dogs."

"Tch." Grunted Betou. "The higher-ups kicked us out. Most of our old crew left, but some of us stayed with Tegashi and we've been hunting for your ass."

"Ha!" Rei barked at the man. "All for revenge? You guys really do have no lives. Be like the others, be smart, and stop working for that asshole, Tegashi." She provoked with a big smirk on her face. While she was probably scared for her life, she wouldn't drop her act just for that. She had a reputation to keep, even with someone who might kill her.

"You got a lot of balls sayin' that shit 'bout us and our boss, bitch." The other, Noguka, hissed as he pulled out and gun and held his arm up, aiming at Rei with a snarl on his ugly face. The nose of the firearm touched onto Rei's pale forehead, its surface cool against her chilled skin. Rei's fists tightened and she was tenser than before. She was now teetering on the edge of death, but she knew they wouldn't kill her. Not yet. They needed the codes. Ruby eyes glared down at the fellow infront of her, her smirk remained.

"I'd return that insult, but I don't want to make the same mistake you did." She said in a smart-alecky way that seemed to piss Noguka off even more.

His arm tensed as he pushed the gun farther into her forehead. "You damn whore!" He shouted out of rage.

"Don't shoot her, you-" Betou tried reaching for his friend when fierce, sharp barking from behind them cut him off. Rei glanced behind the man's shoulder in time enough to see a flash of red-brown fur before alabaster fangs sunk into Noguka's shoulder. The brunette cried out and turned around, his arm slung to the side and he pulled the trigger in a messy attempt to shot at Rei before he went down. The bullet ricocheted off the slanted, concrete ground and went in the direction of Rei. It managed to graze into her right calf, and it was the albino's turn to cry out in pain. _Mama-sempai!_ Tobi's voice echoed in Rei's mind as the mutt looked up in alarm.

"You idiot! I thought you said that damn mutt was gone!" Betou shouted and pulled out a gun from his own jacket, aiming it not at Rei, but at Tobi. Rei's protective senses kicked in and she grabbed the lackey's hands with her own and cart-wheel to his other side, spinning his wrists out of place. She landed messily on her feet and fell, twisting her body to break her fall with her back. "Ah! You whore, I outta!"

"C'mon, Tobi!" Rei cried, stumbling back to her feet as she ran down the alleyway. Tobi leapt to his feet and ran to her side keeping in pace with her limping self. "Shit, my leg hurts like hell."

"The bullet isn't in your leg is it?" Tobi asked as he shifted to a boy. The look of concern was painted all over his face, intense in his green eyes. Rei shook her head as she ran.

"No," She breathed. "I don't think so. I think it just grazed me, but it's still pretty bad." Tobi continued looking at the albino with a lot of worry and concern, though the eldest of the pair chuckled lightheartedly. "Déjà vu, huh?" The mutt-turned-boy looked up at her with alarm, confusion making those nonexistent ears of his perk. Then the moment finally registered through his mind and he laughed with an exaggerated nod, the boy beamed remembering clearly their last run in with the men that wanted them both dead.

* * *

"So, explain to me exactly what happened again?" Izumo asked in a tired voice, the bartender pinched the bridge of his nose and set down one of the wine bottles he just got shipped in. He turned around to look at Reina who laid out on the couch, her right leg bare as Totsuka pressed alcohol-soaked cotton balls into her bullet wound. Rei glanced at her friend and scowled, rolling her eyes.

"I told you. I was on a walk, I heard something, went to go check it out, and then some guys from the Yakuza cornered me. Thing is, they aren't part of the Yakuza- Ow! Fucking hell, Totsuka-san!" The alabaster haired woman hissed, flinching as Totsuka pushed the cotton deeper into her wound to clean it all out.

Rei's childhood friend looked up with a grim smile. "Gomen. Nothing much I can do about the stinging…" Said the blond as he returned to fumbling with the tweezers in his hand. The woman just sighed and rolled her shoulders back.

"Maybe not as much alcohol?" She didn't receive any response, so she continued tell her story to Kusanagi who waited patiently behind the bar counter. "Anyway, they aren't part of the Yakuza. When they didn't retrieve those stolen codes I got, the higher-ups kicked that whole division out. Apparently most of them left, but some stayed with their leader and I guess they started a sort of mini gang." Rei explained quite thoroughly

"And now they're looking for you?" Kusanagi inquired with his eyebrow raised. Rei just stared at him for a while before sighing and looking ahead, shrugging her shoulders as an indifferent answer. The bartender huffed a bit of his unappreciated concern before continuing his work at the bar. Ruby tinted irises moved over to her leg, and she growled at how deep the wound had seemed to go. Deeper than she thought. Maybe she had underestimated on whether or not the damn bullet grazed or actually went into her leg. Either why, it hurt like hell.

Reina finally had enough with her wounds and let out a long and exhausted sigh. "That's enough," She breathed calmly, looking over at Totsuka who stopped his mending and met her gaze. "I'll just wrap it tight and stitch it myself later tonight if I have to." The albino shooed off the blond with her leg and sat up, brushing white locks out of her face.

Tobi's voice immediately cut into Rei's actions. "But what if the bullet really went into your leg? If it did, then you'd have to get it out or else the wound will close and then you'll-" Before the mutt could continue rambling, Rei shot him a cold glare.

"I'm fine. The bullet just grazed me." She hissed in an icy tone that she had never held against him. "If anyone should be lecturing anyone, it should be me. What were you thinking getting into that fight? You could've gotten killed. It was a dumbass move and I was holding myself just finely."

Tobi scoffed, a wide, fake smile of surprise and disbelief. "Are you kidding me? That guy had a gun pressed to your head! How were you going to get out of that, give them the codes?" The boy asked with a stern tone. Rei didn't answer. If she had to, she would've given them the codes. If she hadn't already gave them to someone for safe keeping. "Where are the codes, Reina?" His voice was stern and cold, mossy green eyes stared into ruby ones that didn't seem to quite return the favor.

"Can we talk about this later?" Rei snapped, her patience running dry. The muscles in her arm tensed, and before anymore of her nerves were spent, she stood up, brushing her hair back with on hand. Her hearing was tuned out, she didn't really want to hear anything else Tobi had to say as she slowly walked across the room and up the stairs. Not one last word to that Dog.

* * *

**A/N:** Pretty cliff-hanger-y, huh? Very angst-y too, jeeze. I noticed how much my writing skills have lacked. God…dangit. *Sigh.* I really have nothing to say to wrap this up…

Wait! I do! So sorry for being late on my updates lately, I feel terrible about it. School has been a complete jerk to me. Exams, concerts, competitions, I started belly dancing which takes up my whole Wednesdays, uh…Yeah. I was really tired when I was writing this outro, it's like…guh…I'm tired. Bwahaha…

Also, about the prequel that will show Rei's back story, I'm starting on it, it's really hard to write for some…unknown…reason…*Headdesk.* Like I said I'm tired! :D Anywho~ Yeah, but hopefully I'll be getting the first chapter up. Most of the content first shown will be a lot of foreshadowing. Jeeze, yeah it'll be a lot of foreshadowing. Hahaha! Anywho, um…

To save the sake of the fact I'm tired, and that I really want you guys to get this update, I'll be skipping on the review replies, and I'm really sorry about that! I'll be getting reviews from this chapter and last chapter replied at the next update, hopefully. Please leave your thoughts about this chapter, they are much appreciated and feel free to drop a favorite and a follow! Thank you!

Ciao!

~DreamColors


	9. Stray

**Chapter Nine**

**Stray**

Everyone seemed to be out patrolling or minding their own except for Kusanagi, Tobi, Rei, Anna and the Red King. After four hours of painting one of the blank walls in her room, Rei had changed into more suitable clothes and began to make her way quietly down the stairs. She figured that Mikoto Suoh and her sister were minding their own else were in the building, while Kusanagi must've been tending to his bar like usual and serving the occasional customer. She didn't know about that mutt, though. For all she knew, he would've ran off by now in a tantrum. While dogs are loyal, it seemed this one had a particular mind of his own. It kinda drove her nuts, but she shouldn't be so judgmental. After all, Rei tended to cause a bit of trouble herself. Okay, that was an understatement.

Rei chuckled to herself and rolled her eyes. How foolish they both were, no wonder they were good and bad partners at the same time. In a way, she liked it better when he was a dog. Ever since she found out about Tobi being a Strain, Rei had an impulse to constantly worry about the boy. She didn't know why, it was no different from before.

No, that wasn't it. She did know why. Rei wanted to prove to herself, and maybe even to Mikoto, that she's capable of taking care of and protecting someone. What if she needed protecting and taking care of, though? Isn't that why they had this equal standing before? So, why couldn't she stop herself from being such an overprotective Mother Hen? It was annoying even thinking of it. Rei really needed something to get her mind off things, and painting just made her think about it more. What she needed was a bunch of distractions so loud that she couldn't hear herself think anymore. Explosions? Fighting?

A walk around in the shopping center sounded much more effective than those.

Before she even noticed it, Rei was by the door and putting on her leather jacket, keeping the collar popped as usual to hide the majority of her face. The rack rattled in the most annoying way, and Rei could once again see those currently, non-existent ears perk up in alarm. Turns out Tobi was taking a little cat nap. For four hours. Sleepily and sluggishly, the boy sat up and his green eyes took a while to focus on his albino partner and then narrow spitefully.

"Are we gonna talk now, Rei-sempai?" Tobi's voice was cold and piercing. Though, it was not like Rei wasn't going to return the favor.

"I've still got some thinking to do. Well, less thinking, more not thinking, really." Despite her spiteful tone, the woman still had her joking and teasing ways. A habit she really needed to get over.

Tobi didn't seem too convinced, either that or he was really pissed at his partner. "Oh, yeah? Where ya' going?"

"Some place noisy."

Both partners stared at each other for the longest of times, both trying to figure each other out. Soon enough, Rei proceeded to leave, the door ringing bells as she opened it. "You're going to fight them, aren't you?" Tobi interrupted her once again, causing an exhausted and annoyed groan escape Rei's lips. "If you are, I'm coming with you."

"No." Rei bit at the boy, once again her defensive side boiling up. "It's none of your business where I'm going. Even if I was going to fight them, I still wouldn't let you go along." She explained and once again tried to leave, but Tobi had a tendency to interrupt her actions on a whim.

"What about our partnership? Our agreement?" Tobi barked at her, demanding answers as to if they were still a team.

"Yo…" Kamamoto had walked in on their little argument. Luckily, Rei had managed a greeting nod before redirecting her sharp gaze at the cedar-haired boy. She had to at least be kind to others.

"I'm not exactly sure the same partnership still even stands." She murmured before walking out, leaving Tobi looking as though Rei had stabbed him in the back.

* * *

Tobi did absolutely nothing to stop Rei from leaving Bar HOMRA, from jumping onto her bike, from speeding away without a second glance. He did nothing but stare as she did, hoping she'd look at him at least once to know that she knew they had each other's back. However, that wasn't the case here. She didn't look back. Didn't even say where she was going, and Tobi wasn't entirely convinced that she wasn't going to find those punks from Tekashi's mini-gang and fight them. He wasn't entirely sure if he was going to follow her, either. He knew that if he were to try to follow her, he wouldn't be able to catch up by then. She was on a damn motorcycle for god's sake!

"Tobi-chan? Is everything okay between you and Reina-san? You guys haven't quite been the same since she found out you were a Strain." Kusanagi Izumo's voice had carried over to the boy-Strain whose line of sight was immediately directed at the blond-haired bartender. Currently Kusanagi was taking care of a customer, but found the time to see what exactly was up with the nearest Clansmen and her partner.

Naturally, Tobi bit his lip and sucked in an easy-hearing breath before speaking. "I dunno, really." The boy shrugged as he spoke. "She's been acting weird ever since she had that argument with Mikoto-sama. I'm starting to wish she hadn't found out."

Kusanagi placed his hands on his hips with a dirty rag in one. "'Mikoto-sama', eh? Heh, don't let him hear you saying that. He's not really one to like being called such formal names." He murmured and chuckled, shaking his head. The grungy old man at the bar mumbled something in which Kusanagi replied with a quick nod and then filled his glass up with whiskey before returning his conversation with Tobi. "As for you and Reina-san, I'm not exactly sure what to say. I don't know her too well. Well, I did, but that was five years ago. Really the only one here that really knows her is you, Anna-chan, and King. More namely you, though." The blond ran his hand through his hair and continued. "Sure, Anna can look through her mind and such, and Suoh has a connection because she's his Clansman, but neither of them can see into her heart that well. That's where you come in. So, what do you think?"

Tobi never really realized this. Maybe he did, but he didn't want to really think it. Such things seemed selfish; saying you know someone more than anyone else. However, now that he thought on it, he really did seem to know her more than her friends of whom she knew since childhood. After all, he could see behind her acts better than Totsuka-san. Though, the thing is, what did he think? It seemed so easy to figure her out before, but now he didn't quite now. Tobi shifted his weight uncomfortably and sighed. There was nothing hidden behind her words, really.

"I think she's telling the truth." The boy murmured, green eyes grim and almost hollow now. He had realized there was no turning back now. "Our partnership doesn't even stand anymore."

* * *

Rei decided that maybe perhaps just the downtown area of Shizume City would be noisy enough to get her mind of things, plus she'd need to start thinking of birthday present for a certain bartender, and it just so happened that her own favorite liquor store was downtown. Even though it didn't really look it, the crowd at that time wasn't all that busy, compared to other times, since it was Sunday. At that time, most people would be with their families preparing meals together. In all honesty, she wasn't exactly sure if this liquor store was open on Sundays or not. Knowing the old, stingy man who worked there, he probably was to cater to any social outcasts who think their lives mean nothing.

The noise of the crowd was unsettling but it definitely got Rei's mind off the situation with Tobi and herself. Several conversations involving work, dinner, and the latest manga releases from yesterday fluttered through the air like static. Annoying, but background noise to the albino's aimless wandering. The folds of her jacket rubbed against her cheek as she maneuvered through all the people in her way. A thought then came to her mind. Maybe she'd visit that old weaponry shop she discovered the last time she went shopping.

After maybe a half hour of just listening in on stupid conversation and wandering around, Rei had stumbled upon her liquor store. Casually she walked in and waved at the man behind the counter, who looked a bit puzzled to see her, then confused, and then realization riddled across the old man's face.

"Reina-chan! Aren't you a sight for sore eyes, I haven't seen you in almost two years." Raspy voiced, the man spoke. He sounded like he'd just gone out for a smoke. Reeked of it too. "You didn't start going to someone else, did ya'?" He store owner gave Rei a narrow eyed, scary look. It was clear he took it personal when regular customers started going to some other place with cheap wine. Rei barked a laugh and shook her head.

"Nah, I've just been trying to stay a little more sober than usual. Although, a friend of mine is the owner of a bar, so I have all the whiskey and rum I need to put into my morning tea." She paused to glance back at the old man, who looked even angrier. "Not that he really has the best stuff like you do, Gakuge-san! Which is part of the reason why I'm here. His birthday's coming up, so I thought I'd give him some better drinks than those imports he gets from Europe."

"European imports? What's better than that?" Gakuge grumbled and sulked from behind the store counter.

"How about those pretties that I helped smuggle in for ya' three years back? Tell me you still have that, besides you kinda owe me anyway for that." She added that snarky remark with a tough smirk. Though, Gakuge deadpanned, his scowl reading the words _"are you stupid?"_ out loud to her.

"That was three years ago. Most of it I sold, and even if I did still have it, they'd all be old. You really don't know your liquor well, do you, Reina-chan?" The two of them laughed together before Rei just simply asked for the best the man's got and a pack of cigarettes before leaving with a kind goodbye. Why couldn't she always be this nice? Ah, well, short tempers and all that jazz.

* * *

Light steps into the weaponry store were greeted by the jingling of bells on top of the door that Rei had entered through. Natakai Musi looked up from behind the glass counter, whose cases were full of several knives, daggers, and swords. A wide smile creased the middle-aged man's lips and he waved at her. Rei waved back. One of the first things she noticed was the quite radio turned onto the local news. After a while, she seemed to not notice it anymore.

"Good to see you, Sika-chan! How's that switchblade working out for you?" Musi greeted her as though she were a close friend. Kinda creepy, but Rei went along with it. Actually, at first she had no idea who this "Sika" person was until she remembered that was her alias.

"Nice to see ya' too, Musi-san," Rei nodded back at the man before flicking her rest, her modernized switch blade falling neatly into her hand. "Oh, and it's working out just finely, really. Haven't been able to sharpen it, though."

Musi waved the albino girl over, a gesture she followed and came up to the counter. "I can sharpen it up for you, won't take too long. Hell, I'll make it on the house!" He said as Rei handed him over her blade, ruby eyes widened a bit in shock. No one really offered her anything like that without charge.

"Really?" She asked, nearly jumping over the counter as Musi disappeared behind a curtain doorway. That was probably her most paranoid moment in a long time. She'd grown to very much like that knife and wasn't really favoring the idea of Musi breaking it for her refusal of his offer to buy out most of his newest products the last time she was there. Not that she really believed that he would do that.

"Yes, after all you are quite the captivating character, Ms. Maikadu." Musi called, though his voice lowered tone as he reentered the store with a small sharpener. The Sika Maikadu side of Rei bushed bright red and she choked on dry air, trying to register Musi's words. Okay- this guy was creepy.

"Um… Uh… Well, I'm flattered but-"

"I wasn't saying it like that, Sika-san!" Musi laughed. "It's just I can see the fire of a fighter in you and I envy that. Besides, I have a wife." Rei grew even a brighter shade of red. Why was this conversation making her look like such a fool? After registering that the salesman was joking, Rei laughed with him and her blush dimmed back into her usual pale complexion.

"Oh, uh, yeah…that's what I thought." Rei chuckled, ruby eyes moving over to avoid any unnerving eye contact. Well, this was awkward. It was bound to get even more awkward. Maybe it wasn't much of a good idea to come here after all, since the albino was obviously making a total fool of herself.

"Besides, I'm sure you've found yourself a nice young man to be with by now. Most young people do. I wouldn't doubt it if it was one of those men that came into my store the first time you came." Musi continued the conversation on a good note, thankfully, as he began to sharpen the knife casually, much like how Rei would on a late night that she couldn't sleep. "Am I right?"

Rei chuckled and shook her head. "Yeah, totally. The one with the red hair is all mine." She claimed with a bark of laughter and sat down on one of the nearby stools set up for any lazy customers. The gleam in Musi's eyes let Rei know he could spot her sarcasm.

"Heh, good thing to hear. He looked like one of those gangsters from HOMRA." _You have no idea_, Rei thought with a mental fit of laughter. The swordsman's eyes and ears suddenly directed to something on the radio that, up until then, seemed like nothing. However, a certain mention of a certain group drew both their attention to the public announcement. With a swift movement the middle-aged man turned up the volume.

"This is a public announcement from Scepter 4." Said a female announcer. "Information on a local thief and possible murder assistant has been released. Suspect has been reported to be at a young age, male, green eyes and brown hair." At the sound of such news chilled Rei's blood and she froze on the spot. It felt as though her heart had lodged into her stomach. She listened intently for the last of the report, hoping that this wasn't her kid. "Suspect has been reported on several accounts of thievery and most recently a report on assist of murder. Further information has yet to be released. If you know or have seen someone matching the description, please report to your local Scepter 4 number. Thank you, this has been a public announcement from Scepter 4."

It took a while for Rei to properly scan the words she had just heard and then make sense of them. Then, slowly she moved over to meet the gaze of Musi Natakai. "I-I have to go, it was nice to see you."

* * *

Dial tone ringing went on until the voicemail picked up. Rei bit down on her lip and tapped the side of her earpiece to shut it off. There was no point in leaving a message if she was this close to home. Either way, she couldn't help but feel a little empty when she turned off her Bluetooth. She continued speeding through the street and made a sharp left turn before slowing down to the curb and parking. Quickly and swiftly, she leap off her bike and threw her helmet to the side, not even bothering hanging it on the handle of her bike. The albino hurried up the stairs, nearly stumbling on one of the steps and then burst through the door. Though when she spoke, she was actually quite calm.

"Hey, where's Tobi?" Though, her voice wavered on edge, she approached rather calmly, not really wanting to strike as a crazy, deluded albino woman with knives. Ruby eyes scanned the room for any sign of red-brown hair, but there was nothing except the stares from a few of the HOMRA boys, Totsuka taking his general nap, and two girls at one of the tables staring at Rei like she was crazy. Quickly, the girl straightened up and brushed her hair into better shape than it was. No one liked helmet hair.

"You two came to the same decision, right?" Kusanagi asked cautiously, he set down his phone. Probably just realized Rei had tried to call him. Though, she didn't seem to notice that, instead she just looked a bit confused and puzzled by the blonde's words.

"What do you mean, 'same decision?'" She asked just as cautiously, eyeing the bartender as he moved quite uncomfortably to a different position, away from eye contact.

"The kid left. Said something about you saying your partnership doesn't stand anymore." Unfortunately, in more ways than one, someone Rei did not want to talk to at all talked. Mikoto stared at her for a while before moving infront of her, to look down on her with a dull scowl. "Seems, in a way, you still left him. How does it feel to fail to protect someone you think you care about?" He shook his head. "How troublesome."

Rei couldn't take any more of his pestering. With a swift movement, she slapped her own King across the face before turning quickly and rushing out the door and back on her bike. She didn't even utter a single word to the man, she didn't even stay long enough to see the expression on his face. She didn't care, she had to find a stupid dog of hers.

* * *

Things is, Rei had no idea where to start on finding the damn thing. She should've stayed, maybe if she did, she'd be able to get Anna to help her again. No, not even that worked out. Rei remembered seeing how worn out the little albino was after her hard work looking. She didn't want to push the poor dear. Though, the Scepter 4 Head Quarters wouldn't be a bad place to start, even if the place did give her a very bad and vulgar mood. Rei really didn't want to seek their help, but they were looking for him too, plus they probably had better leads.

"Please, wait here, Ms. Maikadu," Said the Scepter 4 officer by the name of Akiyama. The kid was rather slim, dark hair swooped down over one of his black colored eyes. He didn't seem to be much of an interesting character. Too formal for Rei to be comfortable around. Then again, she was already tense to be in one of the consulting offices of the Scepter 4 HQ, it was natural to be on edge when around people she knew could detect her. Akiyama got up from behind a desk and exited the room.

While the officer was away, Rei couldn't help but feel a little curious to look around. Something kept irking her about the place. Something Red Aura wise. Though, she wouldn't be surprised if Mikoto had a spy here. Okay, maybe a little, but it did cross her mind a couple of times. She was also curious as to what kind of King they have, but she wouldn't dare venture that far. Actually, she was too on edge to venture anywhere beyond this room. She wasn't even able to move to keep from misbalancing her calm. Though, she couldn't help but let something catch her eye. That Akiyama character had left his PDA right on the desk. What a fool.

Slowly and quietly, Rei swiped to phone to herself and began to decode the password and put her own codes in it. This is where her four years of playing a hacker came in handy. The code she had put into the device was a simple syncing system with her own Bluetooth headpiece, this way if things weren't to go well and they found out where Tobi was, she could track them down using her maps. Quickly after syncing both devices which took no longer than half a minute, the placed the PDA down on the table, attempting to return it to the same place and position it was before.

"Tch," A rather curt noise came from someone behind her. Rei flinched very subtly, and the grip on one of her knives in her pocket tightened. Instinctively and quickly, she snatched back her free hand that still levitated over the desk in front of her. It seemed her heart-rate had sped up ten times. "What's a Red Clansman doing here?" A male voice said quietly and smugly. Rei was really on edge now. How did they figure her out that fast?

"Did you say something, Fushimi-san?" The same person from before, Akiyama, questioned as he crossed over back behind the desk. The boy sat down and eyed whoever was behind Rei.

"Nothing." This so-called Fushimi said. Rei wanted so bad to look behind her to see whoever found her out, but she was more curious as to why the guy didn't rat her out.

"Anyway. So, from the information you gave us we've managed to get a name and behavior. Though, we still have no idea how to find this, um…?" Akiyama stalled for a name, it took a little while for the albino to realize what he was saying.

"To- I mean, Nomurda Toshiyuki." Rei suggested in an over girly tone, that, thankfully, seemed to work. Though, she didn't really favor it.

"Yes," The officer eyed her before continuing. "We've no idea how to locate this Toshiyuki. No leads what so ever, no card registers, ATM deposits or anything. We need a little more information than that,"

Rei took a deep breath, she'd have to be very selective about the details she would give out. "Umm," She stalled. "Well, he used to live in the slums, I've no idea where he stays now, though." She hated sounding this innocent, but it'd only last for a few moments until she could bolt out of that place. The dark haired kid sighed and looked down, shaking his head.

"Alright, I'll see if we can work with that." Dark eyes looked above the albino with a rather bored and dull expression. "If you think you need to ask anything else, you do it. I'm going to report in and I don't have time for your random questions." Akiyama said spitefully, surprisingly while sounding professional, before leaving the room again with a file and his PDA. As he left, Rei eyed the saber strapped to his hip, cautious enough to make sure the kid didn't make any moves. After he left, the other finally showed his face. The kid was young, obviously, yet still rather tall. He had a laidback appearance with his collar popped and messy hair, unlike the other officer in uniform he didn't exactly button up his jacket. Though, there was a strange glint in his eyes that sparked a fierceness in Rei. Something about this Fushimi wasn't quite right.

"So, what? Did the infamous Red King finally decide to put up a spy in here? Tch, I don't quite exactly know your face, so you've got to be new." Fushimi's tone was a bit smartass and lazy. Like he didn't seem to give a damn that a Red Clansman was in the headquarters of his Clan.

"I'm not spying, just using my resources to find a friend," Immediately, she dropped her act and reclaimed her smug attitude, in fact it was almost equivalent to his own smartass tone. Rei got up and flipped her hair back with a sigh. "Just know that if you draw your swords against my dog, I won't pay your hospital bills." She hissed before leaving on a very spiteful tone, though she couldn't shrug off Fushimi's own last remark.

"I won't need you to cover any bills of any sort, though I will enjoy the event."

* * *

Rei had stayed close to the Scepter 4 building, waiting for any teams to be sent out to retrieve her cedar-furred friend. While doing that, she busied herself with asking people now and then if they've seen this dog and show them a picture of Tobi, either that or throwing knives into the dirt or carving out sketches into the cement that was drying nearby. Though, from past experiences, she knew if she kept that up she'd end up getting in trouble with either one of the automatic road cleaners or a real person that probably should've stayed at their work area in the first place. If felt like she waited a century as dark clouds came back into the city and the time of twilight faded away into that of night. It was starting to rain lightly when she noticed some commotion in the stone front of the building. Finally, something to check out.

Rei stood up and looked ahead, realizing one important thing. She was too damn short to see over the large walls that blocked off Scepter 4 from all of society. Literally and figuratively. So, as subtly as she could, Rei climbed on the seat of her bike and tried to balance herself as she looked over the ledge to see a good amount of Scepter 4 boys lined up and ready to go, including that Fushimi character of whom she kept on getting a bad vibe from. The kid looked uninterested in his higher-ups commands, and as Rei looked over at said higher-up, she was a little surprised to see who was there. She knew of Miss Awashima Seri from being in the Blue Clan before when they had their old King and Scepter 4 was still fairly new, but then the girl was merely a simple officer. According to her unique outfit, of which was a bit too showy for Reina's own tastes, the albino guessed she was second in command.

The blond woman looked serious and sharp as she barked commands at her lower ranks, commands that Rei didn't quite catch, not that they matter anyway. Seri had left the scene with a few other comrades in a van while Fushimi had taken the other part of their group on foot. That was Rei's cue to leave. The albino had leapt down to land harmlessly in the seat of her bike, she turned the key and revved the engine for a familiar purr and tone that the motorcycle had given off. She waited patiently for the front gates of the HQ to open, first came out the van, going in one direction, then Fushimi's group taking another. Who to follow? Rei figured she'd be less noticed if she were to follow the van, but in the case that they weren't going to find Tobi and Fushimi would, there was really no telling if that creeping guy would have such 'pure' motives as the rest of Scepter 4 seemed to have.

Luckily, the Akiyama from before had went with Fushimi's group, and he still hasn't noticed that his PDA was hacked. Perfect. With a swift movement, Rei clicked on her headpiece that activated the projector camera. It showed a map of the entire city, there were two dots within the streets of said city. One was her own, then other was the one she was looking for. Now with a direction in sight, Rei new exactly how to track the back roads, follow these guys, and not get caught. Hopefully.

* * *

Kusanagi had finally sat down for the day after a couple of guys had left, possibly drunk. Ah, well. The bartender was a bit exhausted, but managed a well conducted farewell to the three before lazily checking his phone. A missed call from Miss Reina, however that was before she had come by and had a little mess of things with the King. In all honesty, it was pretty damn gutsy for her to slap him like that. What surprised Izumo even more was how Mikoto reacted. He couldn't tell if his longtime friend was surprised, pissed, or appeased. Maybe all three. After Rei had left, the King had just scoffed and shook his head as he made his way upstairs. Probably to nap or something.

Of course, Totsuka had eventually woken up from his deep slumber, and somehow the kid knew something was wrong. So, Kusanagi explained the deal to him and then Totsuka calmly went upstairs. That was maybe an hour ago. Now, Kusanagi was all alone in his bar in the peace and quiet. While it was a bit unusual for the place to be dead, usually there would be a customer or one of the usual HOMRA boys here, it was still a good moment to revel in. this way his bar was nice and safe. For now at least. He knew it would only take a second for this place to burst up in hell, or for one of the Clansmen to come in, get drunk, and start one hell of a night. Of course, Kusanagi didn't really mind the latter.

"Oi, Kusanagi-san!" Totsuka said called from the stairwell as he stepped down. "Rei's about to do something really stupid, so we better go get her." He explained a bit too cheerily as he walked over to the double doors and retrieved his jacket, tossing the King his own in the process. Kusanagi pushed himself out of the seat, a bit taken back of this sudden move.

"Wait, how do you know that?" He asked, standing up and walking to his friend's side. Totsuka pulled out his phone and showed a report from Scepter 4.

"Seems the Blues are after a certain Strain."

* * *

It was dark and raining when Rei had finally caught up with Scepter 4. They seemed to be cornering Tobi in a large courtyard, no swords were drawn, however, by the look on his face he wasn't going to surrender easily. Rain soaked his auburn hair, clinging to his face as he glared at the approaching officer. His green eyes were puffy and red, it looked like he'd been crying. If Rei weren't so damn eager to find this kid, she would've deadpanned and spoken her thoughts on how the boy was a crybaby.

"Toshiyuki Nomurda, come quietly and you will face a fair trial of your accused crimes." A brown haired officer called over to the boy, and his head snapped to face him with a deadly, dog-like snarl.

"If you want me, come and get me!" Like the idiot he was, Tobi shouted his intimidating phrases. The albino's fists clenched into balls and she glared over at him, angry that'd he'd be reckless enough to do this. From across the street, Rei began to walk over to the courtyard in a hurried stride.

"Get away!" Tobi's voice snapped, causing Rei to stop at the sidewalk, her eyes wide to watch as Tobi transformed from human to canine. He lunged himself at the officer who stepped back and turned just in time to evade the attack, he then shouldered Tobi mid-air and shoved him to the side. The mutt rolled on the ground and quickly regained his standing position, body and head low. The officer looked tense and he stood straight.

"I don't want to use force, but at this point it seems there is no choice,"

* * *

**A/N: **Sorry guys about not updating in so damn long. Summer got me carried away and for a short while the only muse I had was to draw…so I drew a bunch of my characters including Reina and Tobi. I might just scan it and put it up on dA…or use it as a cover photo. I need one of those anyway…

Hmm. Now I have an idea.

Well, guys. I am tired. Sorry for the late update, but at least it's here! :D Reviews are appreciated! Feel free to drop a favorite and a follow as well if ya' want! Yay!

Ciao!

~DreamColors


End file.
